Shimla, January 8
Spurred by intelligence inputs indicating that terrorists can target sensitive locations across the country, including the hill state, the state police is carrying out an exhaustive exercise to deal with increased threat perception and put in place a “quick-response system” to deal with any such situation.

The top brass of the police will deliberate on the issue and related matters concerning the crime situation in the state at a meeting to be held here on January 13. District police chiefs and in charge of ranges will also be present in the meeting.

Besides reviewing the security of vital installations like hydroelectric projects, the preparedness of the quick-response teams and bomb-disposal squads will also be assessed in the light of the latest intelligence inputs.

The security of various temples that fall in the category of sensitive locations will also be reviewed. Implementation of the instructions issued to district police chiefs for ensuring safety of pilgrims in the wake of the stampede at Naina Devi shrine last year will also be monitored.

The meeting will also focus on drug trafficking that has become one of the major concerns for the authorities in the state over the past some time. Another area that will engage attention at the meeting is the increasing incidence of fatal road accidents.

In fact, accidents claim more lives than heinous crimes like murder. On an average, about 125 murders take place annually in the state, whereas road mishaps claim around 850 lives.

The meeting to be chaired by Director General of Police GS Gill will also look into the reasons for spurt in theft and burglary cases in some parts of the state.

Shimla, January 8
The State High Court today granted four week’s time to the Brakel Corporation for filing of its response on a petition filed by Reliance Infrastructure challenging the recent decision of the state government with regard to allotment of two hydel power projects, namely Jangi-Thopan and Thopan- Powari to the corporation.

A division bench comprising the Chief Justice Jagdish Bhalla and Justice Kuldip Singh passed this order on a request of the Brakel for granting more time to file its response, while allowing the same the court listed this matter for further hearing on March 31, 2009.

The Reliance, which had also participated in the global bids for two projects, has filed a fresh petition before the court for setting aside the recent decision taken by the state government whereby it had decided to allot both these projects to the corporation.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Reliance in its earlier petition had challenged the decision of the state with regard to allotment of these two power projects to Brakel on the ground that the Brakel had given wrong facts to the state with regard to its financial and technical competence. After the disposal of this petition the state had issued a show-cause notice to the Brakel as to why the allotment of these projects should not be cancelled for misrepresenting and giving wrong facts to the state.

While issuing the show-cause notice to Brakel the state also decided that if the allotment were cancelled, it would readvertise the projects.

But after considering the case of the Brakel afresh the state on November 25 decided to allot these projects to the Brakel.

Against this decision of the state, Reliance had filed this petition before the court. 

Shimla, January 8
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the state government to register FIRs against the persons who have encroached upon the government land, more particularly on forest land, within four weeks.

While passing this order Justice Rajiv Sharma further directed that in these cases investigation would be carried out after the registration of FIRs and thereafter challans would be put up accordingly.

The court also directed the Director General of Police to duly comply with this order otherwise he will be personally held accountable for the implementation of this order.

During the hearing of the case the senior additional advocate general had undertaken that the FIRs would be registered against the encroachers within four weeks. The court also appreciates the fair and bold stance taken by the senior additional advocate general for taking prompt and stern action against the encroachers and directed him to file supplementary affidavit of compliance of this order within four weeks.

In its earlier order the court directed the chief secretary to file personal affidavit to the effect how many encroachments have been detected in the government land by the revenue agency, more particularly in the forest land and whether FIRs had been registered against these persons and if not why.

Solan, January 8
The police has claimed to have busted another flesh trade racket in the district. Ten persons, including five girls, were arrested from a private resort near Kandaghat under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act last evening.

The girls involved in the case have been identified as Vanita, Rani, Nisha, Pooja and Ruchi. They had come from Delhi in a red Tavera (DL-3C-AE-1933). The men involved were: Sonu Jolly, Baljeet Godra of Bikaner in Rajasthan, Raju Shukla, Rajesh Sharma and Santosh Kumar of Delhi. They had arrived here in separate vehicles.

A police team from Solan raided the Zurich Resort last evening and arrested these 10 persons and registered a case under Sections 3 and 5 of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act. DIG Pardeep Kumar said the girls had been promised a sum of Rs 2,000 each for a night. The arrested persons were later produced in a local court.

The girls, all aged between 18 and 22 years, seem to have been driven to this mess due to penury. They said they had ailing family members to look after and this forced them into this profession.

A large quantity of liquor was also seized from the premises. The entry of girls had not been shown in the hotel register. The racket was being run under the garb of a dance party organised by Sony Jolly, a lessee of the resort.

A case has also been registered under the Excise Act.

This is the second such case in the area in a span of nine days.

Shimla, January 8
Major-Gen CM Sharma (retd) was sworn in as the 13th chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC), here today.

Governor Prabha Rau administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sharma at a simple but impressive ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta, vice-chairman of the HIMUDA Ganesh Dutt, chief secretary Asha Swaroop and other senior officers of the state government were present on the occasion.

Major-Gen CM Sharma (retd) was born in June 1951 at Shimla. After passing his higher secondary from the local DAV School he obtained his BSc degree in agriculture from then Himachal Agriculture College at Solan.

He later joined the Army and was commissioned in the Regiment of Artillery in 1972. He also holds a postgraduate diploma in human resources development from the Himachal Pradesh University, MSc in Defence Studies and MPhil degrees in both public administration and defence and management.

Shimla, January 8
Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta said saplings would not be imported from nurseries outside the state in a bid to maintain local quality. He said the state government would monitor the quality of plants and saplings of local nurseries through strict vigil and effective quality control would be ensured by the Horticulture Department.

Presiding over the review meeting of the Horticulture Department here today, Bragta said horticulture should be accorded top priority as more than 90 per cent of the people of the state dwell on horticulture-based activities.

He said Horticulture Technology Mission (HTM) with a financial assistance of Rs 80 crore was being implemented in the state on the basis of ‘need-based programmes for the farmers’ and there had been great progress in the development during the last one year in the state.

The minister said under the mission, 85,300 farmers had been benefited so far, besides bringing 1,790.3 hectare additional land under horticulture, 2,971.9 hectare under vegetables, 1,202.4 unit under flowers, 402.2 hectare under medicinal plants, 122 hectare under aromatic plants and 602.2 hectare under spice cultivation.

Besides this 277 MT plant conservation material amounting to Rs 9.48 crore had been distributed to farmers. — UNI

Dharamsala, January 8
The Asian Development Bank has rejected the ambitious project conceived by higher officials of the state tourism and wildlife departments to bring up a golf course in the Pong wetland area.

Sources said the plan was to bring up a golf course at one of the biggest islands in the wetland area. The officials were of the view that the landscape of the island (having an area of about 1,000 acres) was ideal for the purpose and the golf course would help attract high-end tourists. The officials were hoping to get financial assistance for the project from the Asian Development Bank.

Many leaders of the ruling party had made statements that about Rs 500 crore would be spent on bringing up the golf course and other tourism facilities in the area.

However, all these people failed to apprehend that Pong Dam Lake was a Ramsar site and the area fell in Pong wildlife sanctuary. The island on which the officials were planning to bring up the golf course was an important habitat for bird and animal species. Many migratory and domestic bird varieties had set up their nests there. Setting up a golf course in the area could have damaged the fragile ecology of wetland eco-system.

The Asian Development Bank authorities outrightly rejected the idea.

Instead, the ADB authorities showed interest in a project submitted by the Wildlife Department. The plan proposed to bring up ornithological tracks in the wetland area so that certain spot could be created from where visitors could see the birds closely. The project would cost around Rs 14 crore.

Hamirpur, January 8
Education minister I.D. Dhiman today inaugurated a 51.50 mt long bridge on Bhota-Tal via Sidhpur road, constructed at a cost of Rs 44 crore today.

This bridge is important for the area as this would leave the distance between Bhota and Tal to 4 km. Addressing the gathering on this occasion the minister said the state government was committed to provide quality education in the state and had taken several steps in this direction.

Dhiman said “Rs 2047 crore are been spent on education sector in the current year which is 16 per cent of the total budget of the state.”

He said “The state government is also committed to check cheating in exams and special law is being framed to take action not only against the students adopting unfair means in the examinations but also against those helping the students.”

Talking about role of good teachers in education Dhiman said “we need teachers who have several qualities like good character, commitment to duty and punctuality of time; only such teachers can only provide good education.”

He said “several developmental works have been undertaken under the present regime which includes construction of Didwin Tikkar-Bhoranj road at a cost of Rs 1.80 crore, water conservation scheme on Kunnah Khad at a cost of Rs 24 lakh and upgradation of Bhota hospital by spending Rs 16 lakh etc.”

The minister also announced to give Rs 1.30 lakh for installing two handpumps at Sanhwi and Sidhpur. 

Solan, January 8
With the Haryana PWD authorities finally initiating work on the NH-21A after several requests from the state government and initiative of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association (BBNIA), the investors heaved a sign of relief.

Relieved at the restart of repair work after months of excessive wear and tear of the road following heavy rains senior vice-president of the association Vijay Arora said, “Since a budgetary provision of Rs 12 crore has already been made by the National Highways Authority the repair of road between 11.2 km to 17.5 km will be undertaken.”

He added that it was series of efforts made by the association, which had finally made the Haryana officials wake up from their slumber. It is worth mentioning that the Haryana PWD had at one stage virtually refused to undertake any repair on this stretch of the road pleading that the excessive traffic which plied daily on the road made it difficult for any repair work to sustain for long.

While the Haryana PWD would ensure repair of the kutcha tract of the road within a short span and tarring would be undertaken after February. This would bring much-needed relief to the commuters, who had been forced to travel through the overtly bumpy road.

Being the industrial hub of the state and having close proximity to Chandigarh the BBN area was daily visited by industrialists. Nearly 1 lakh people, who reside along the Marrawala-Pinjore NH-21-A belt, also use the road on a daily basis. The rains had further added to the worsening condition of the roads with potholes making the drive excessively bumpy and inconvenient.

According to an estimate more than 25,000 passenger car unit (PCU) are plying on the Pinjore-Marranwala NH-21A daily.

Mandi, January 8
Information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has exposed discrepancies in the census report of 2001 as regards Dhar Kalwad village in the Shiva Thana gram panchayat in the district.

The report showed there were just five members of the SC category in the village. On the other hand, panchayat records and physical counting by the RTI activists revealed that there were 221 members.

As per panchayat records, the total population of the ward is 268, while the census report had put the number at 229.

The discrepancy raised questions about the way censuses were conducted, RTI activists Lawan Thakur and Karam Singh said.

Ward member from Shiva Thana Karam Singh said it had come as a shock for the entire village. “This blunder has resulted in the neglect of the village as regards schemes meant for villages having predominantly SC population,” he rued.

Lawan Thakur demanded action against the erring field staff saying the census report had put a question mark on the way the report was prepared.

On the other hand, officials involved in census operations remained tight-lipped on the issue saying they had no knowledge about the discrepancy in the report. “We will check from the actual records submitted to the directorate,” they maintained.

The RTI activists met Mandi DC Onkar Sharma today and apprised him of the matter. The DC said he had asked the SDM, Gohar, to file a fact-finding report on the issue immediately.

Bilaspur, January 8
State vice-president of the Congress Ram Lal Thakur has alleged a number of irregularities and corrupt practices with respect to Rs 88.09 crore ambitious Anandpur Sahib Hydel Channel irrigation project, which is presently under construction in the Changar area of the Kot Kehloor constituency in this district.

Addressing mediapersons at the Circuit House here this afternoon, Ram Lal Thakur, who was accompanied by Hamirpur constituency party spokesman Deepak Sharma, assistant spokesman Tejeswi Sharma (from Bilaspur) and Kot Kehloor Congress president Sarpal Singh, demanded a high-level impartial inquiry into construction of this project so that financial irregularities are pin-pointed, responsibility for the same are fixed and culprits punished in public interest. He said this is very important from public point of view as this 90 per cent Centrally Government financed project is to bring prosperity to thousands of farmers of this area and any faulty construction would result in loss of crores of rupees of these poor farmers.

Thakur alleged that a junior engineer deputed on this project is a near relation of a prominent BJP politician and lives at Una. He occasionally visits this spot and that also to look after the political and financial interests of his political connections.

Bilaspur, January 8
The District Nehru Yuva Kendra would encourage registered yuva mandals, mahila mandals, rural sports clubs and social organisations here in the district and 10 organisations would be provided with grant of Rs 10,000 each while another 20 would get grant of Rs 5,000 each this financial year.

District youth coordinator Som Dutt Zard said here today that these grants would be given to those who have excelled in social, cultural, sports activities etc between April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008.

Zard said the kendra is encouraging village youths to take to social awakening and their involvement in constructive activities in their areas. Mahila and yuva mandals are being helped to select at least five important social subjects and five popular sports and games and prepare a working plan for implementing the same.

He said applications on prescribed forms, which are available at the district office of the kendra, must reach the office by January 15, 2009, along with supporting material and documents.

Mandi, January 8
Even as the Solang ski resort, near Manali, and Kufri, Narkanda in Shimla have registered their presence on the ski map in the early 1970s, but these resorts have lagged miles behind from a recently built, Auli Ski Resort in Uttarakhand, which has made a big leap into promotion of winter games and adventure tourism by organising the first South Asian Winter Games Championship from December 25-30 this year.

The Auli resort has left Himachal Pradesh far behind as far as skiing facilities are concerned. The Central Government has allocated Rs 200 crore for the Uttarakhand Government for putting all ski facilities at Auli resort in place, boosting adventure tourism and skiing in the state.

On the other hand, ski resorts in Solang Nallah, Kufri and Narkanda cry for facilities like ski lifts, gondolas, proper development of ski slopes, rued skiers. Even Gulmarg Ski Resort in Jammu and Kashmir has left Himachal far behind, they added.

Skiing was pioneered in Kufri, Solang and Narkanda in 1970s, but Auli resort despite its slushy ski slopes was developed into a major resort by the Uttarakhand Government soon after it was cut out from Uttar Pradesh, they pointed out.

Harnam Singh, who founded the mountaineering institute at Manali and made all out efforts to develop infrastructure for adventure sports in the 1970s, but successive governments made a little to promote ski resorts in terms of facilities.

Whereas, the Uttarakhand Government has equipped the Auli resort with ski lifts, cable cars, artificial snow-making machines and other equipment. The ski lift at Solang is yet to be ready for the use of skiers, they informed.

The Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association (HPWGA) cry for funds as the state government has always shown its empty coffers, rued Roshan Thakur, Hira Lal and Chuni Lal, all skiers from Manali. “We have to manage funds for sending the skiers for participating in competitions and training outside the country,” they added.

President of the HPWGA Rupu Negi said they are organising the national meet at Solang Nallah in February this year. But we lack funds and facilities and hope the state government would support us, Negi added.

President of the Winter Games Federation of India SS Pangti said the state government should pay attention to develop ski slopes in the state. The idea of hosting the South Asian Skiing Championship from December 25-30 is to promote winter games in the country as a whole, including Himachal Pradesh.

Tourism officials are tight lipped saying that the winter games sportspersons are now eligible for 3 per cent job quota. The ski lift at Solang Nallah is nearly ready for skiers and adventure-seeking tourists and adventure tourism is being promoted in a big way in Himachal,” they added, requesting anonymity.