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THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
H I M A C H A L    P R A D E S H    E D I T I O N

Five DCs shifted
Shimla, May 30
In a major administrative reshuffle the government today changed the deputy commissioners of five districts while ordering the postings and transfers of 29 IAS and HAS officers.

HRTC not to start night service to
Punjab areas

Dharamsala, May 30
The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) has decided against resuming night service in areas that were affected by violence in the past few days.

Industrial Package
Hopes of extension raised
Shimla, May 30
Hopes of extension of industrial package to the state which is expiring in March, 2010 have been raised with allotment of the commerce and industries portfolio to Anand Sharma. More so, because another senior leader Virbhadra Singh is also in the Union Cabinet as the Minister for Steel to support the state’s case.

9 IPS, 14 HPS officers promoted
Shimla, May 30
The government today ordered promotion and postings of nine IPS and 14 HPS officers with B Kamal Kumar being posted as ADGP (Law and Order).


YOUR TOWN
Dharamsala
Shimla


EARLIER STORIES



Major reshuffle in judiciary
Shimla, May 30
In a major reshuffle in the judiciary of the state the HP High Court has transferred 12 district and sessions judges.

Rave party raided in remote forest
Dharamsala, May 30
Some residents have revived efforts to organise rave parties that are famous for drug abuse by foreign tourists. The police has thwarted the efforts of some residents of Bhagsunag to organise a rave party in the Rait area of Kangra district.

Health ministry to set up research institute
Mandi, May 30
In its bid to protect, preserve and promote the vanishing herbal and medicinal wealth of the western Himalayas, the Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has decided to set up a research institute that will conduct an extensive survey of medicinal herbal wealth in the western Himalayas and document all ayurvedic manuscripts in the region for the purpose of research and propagation.

Singer gets trapped in ‘cap’ politics
Contestants of Mr and Miss Kangra contest with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa fame Himani Kapoor during the summer festival at Dharamsala on Saturday.Dharamsala, May 30
Bollywood playback singer Himani Kapoor who performed at the summer festival yesterday evening at the police grounds got trapped in the Himachali cap politics. The singer, who enthralled the audience, was presented a red Himachali cap by someone from among the organisers.


Contestants of Mr and Miss Kangra contest with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa fame Himani Kapoor during the summer festival at Dharamsala on Saturday. Photo: Kamaljeet

3-day conclave to boost tourism
Shimla, May 30
To showcase the tourism strength of the hill state and prepare a road map for infrastructure development, the Tourism Department and the PHD Chamber of Commerce will hold a three-day tourism conclave next month.

Helpline for women soon
Shimla, May 30
A toll free helpline for women will be started by the Panchayati Raj Department for prompt redressal of women grievances.

5 held for cutting trees
Shimla, May 30
The police yesterday recovered the logs of conifer and other valuable species, which had been illegally axed in the Koti forest range under Theog division with the alleged connivance of forest officials.

Seven killed, 7 hurt in accident
Chamba, May 30
Seven persons were killed while seven others were seriously injured in an accident involving private Bolero. The accident occurred on the Chhatrari-Kunr link road in Chamba district as the vehicle went out of control and rolled down into a deep gorge last evening.

Complaint lodged against pradhan
Mandi, May 30
After the Right To Information (RTI) exposed bungling in the fake entries in NREGA work of the complainant’s wife, Jodhaya Devi, a resident of Reur panchayat in Balh, the police yesterday lodged a complaint against the Reur pradhan under the Balh police station.

Couple commit suicide
Kangra, May 30
A young couple of Ludhiana committed suicide in a guest house at Chintpurni, falling under the Dhera police station yesterday by consuming Sulfas as the couple was suffering from mental agony, the police said.

Woman hit by vehicle dies
Hamirpur, May 30
A woman has lost her life after being hit by a speeding vehicle. Sunita Devi (27), who had come to see off her sister-in-law at Jol Sappar on the Nadaun-Hamiprur road today, was seriously injured after being hit by a speeding Sumo at 2.30 pm today. She was taken to district hospital, Hamirpur, where she succumbed to injuries. — TNS

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Five DCs shifted
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 30
In a major administrative reshuffle the government today changed the deputy commissioners of five districts while ordering the postings and transfers of 29 IAS and HAS officers.

RS Gupta, Director, Food and Civil Supplies, has been appointed Kangra DC in place of Kamlesh Panth.

The DCs of Shimla, Kangra, Chamba, Kullu and Bilapsur have been changed.

JS Rana, Bilaspur DC, makes a comeback as Shimla DC from where he had been shifted before the Lok Sabha poll. Nandita Gupta, Special Secretary, Finance, has been posted as Bilaspur DC in place of Rana.

Maneesh Garg, Chamba DC, has been posted as Director, Social Justice and Empowerment, in place of Subhashish Panda, who has been made Director, Urban Development and Town and Country Planning.

Devesh Kumar, Director, IT, has been posted as Chamba DC. Kullu DC M. Sudha Devi has been posted as Special Secretary, Education. BM Nanta, Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission, has been posted as Kullu DC.

Avay Shukla, Additional Chief Secretary (Forests) will hold additional charge of Technical Education. Harinder Hira, Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue), has been given additional charge of Social Justice and Empowerment.

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HRTC not to start night service to Punjab areas
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 30
The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) has decided against resuming night service in areas that were affected by violence in the past few days.

Minister for Transport and Urban Development Kishan Kapoor gave this information while talking to The Tribune here today. He said in recent arson in Punjab the HRTC had suffered direct losses of about Rs 37 lakh. It includes two buses that were burnt and five buses were damaged.

Due to it we are not taking any risk and night service would not be started in affected Punjab areas till normalcy is attained.

The HRTC earns 7 per cent of its revenue from Punjab. Due to curfew in the Punjab areas there have been heavy revenue losses to the HRTC, the minister said. He further said the HRTC had initiated the process of recruiting 450 bus conductors as there is acute shortage of conductors. The recruitment process would be completed within the next few months.

The process to recruit 550 drivers had already been completed. These drivers would be given three-month training as per rules. However, due to shortage of drivers in the state, about 100 drivers who are found to be good would be put to work after just 15 days of training.

He said the government had made a budget provision for buying 425 new buses. This includes 75 mini buses that would be exclusively deployed in Shimla for de-congesting the traffic.

The remaining 350 buses would be deployed in different parts of the state.

The minister, however, declined the possibility of adding more air-conditioned buses in the HRTC fleet. He said air-conditioned buses were not required in the state, as weather remains good in majority of the areas.

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Industrial Package
Hopes of extension raised
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 30
Hopes of extension of industrial package to the state which is expiring in March, 2010 have been raised with allotment of the commerce and industries portfolio to Anand Sharma. More so, because another senior leader Virbhadra Singh is also in the Union Cabinet as the Minister for Steel to support the state’s case.

Restoration of the industrial package was an issue in both the 2007 assembly elections and recent Lok Sabha polls and both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress had vowed to pursue the issue. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had granted the package which was to expire in March, 2013. However, the Manmohan Singh government came under tremendous pressure from other states, particularly Punjab and Haryana, which demanded scrapping of the package on the grounds that it was leading to flight of industries from these states to Himachal Pradesh. It curtailed some of the major incentives like exemption in excise duty to March, 2007. As the Congress government raised a hue and cry the benefit was extended to March, 2010 but that has not settled the issue. The two parties have been demanding its restoration up to 2013.

The issue is a ticklish one as neighbouring states would oppose it tooth and nail.

There is also a general feeling that the package may not be useful in the wake of global economic slowdown. Most of the companies have deferred their expansion projects and there has been little investment in the state in spite of the package over the past one year. The Union Government had drastically reduced the rate of excise duties and the exemption available under the package is not of much consequence.

The exemption of 4 to 8 per cent in excise duty is not enough to make up for the additional cost one has to incur to manufacture products in a backward area.

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9 IPS, 14 HPS officers promoted
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 30
The government today ordered promotion and postings of nine IPS and 14 HPS officers with B Kamal Kumar being posted as ADGP (Law and Order).

Kumar was presently serving as ADGP (Armed Police and Training).

Municipal Corporation Commissioner AN Sharma has been given additional charge of IG (Intelligence). Seven IPS officers include Rithwik Rudra, Rakesh Aggarwal, SZH Zaidi, Satinder Pal Singh, N Venugopal, GD Bhargava and Shiv Pal Singh have been promoted to the rank of DIG.

Bhargava on his promotion has been posted as DIG (PTC), Daroh, Verma as DIG (Vigilance) at Shimla while Venugopal’s posting is still awaited.

Prem Thakur, SP (CID), Shimla, has been posted as SP, Solan. Santosh Ptial, SP (Vigilance), Dharamshala, has been posted as SP, Una. Jagat Ram, SP (Leave Reserve) has been posted as SP (CID), Shimla.

Rajesh Dharmani, Commandant, 4th IRB, Jungle Beri, has been posted as SP (Vigilance) Dharamsala. DW Negi, Additional SP, 2nd IRB has been transferred against the same post in 3rd IRB, Pandoh, Mandi.

Rajinder Singh Bhatia, Additional SP (TTR) as SP (Crime), Shimla. Two DSPs, including Arvind Digvijay Negi, have been promoted as Additional SPs.

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Major reshuffle in judiciary
Legal Correspondent

Shimla, May 30
In a major reshuffle in the judiciary of the state the HP High Court has transferred 12 district and sessions judges.

According to the notification issued by the high court, AS Jaswal, president of the District Consumer Forum, Dharamsala, will be the new Registrar (Rules) of the high court. SK Chaudhary, Legal Adviser in the office of Lokayukta, has been posted as District and Sessions Judge, Kullu, against the vacant post.

Shamsher Singh, District and Sessions Judge, Kinnaur at Rampur, has been transferred as such at Una. While Virender Singh, District and Sessions Judge, Una, has been transferred to Shimla as Registrar (Inspection) in the high court.

Sureshwar Thakur, District and Sessions Judge, Bilaspur, is posted as president of the District Consumer Forum, Shimla. While Pritam Singh, president of the District Consumer Forum, Shimla, has been transferred to Bilaspur as District and Sessions Judge, Bilaspur. RK Mittal, Member Secretary, State Legal Services Authority, Shimla, has been transferred to Dharamsala as president of the Consumer Forum. Ravinder Prakash, Registrar (Inspection) is District and Sessions Judge (Forest) Shimla. JL Azad, District and Sessions Judge, Chamba, will be the new legal adviser, Lokayukta, Sheila.

KS Chandel, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kangra, has been posted as District and Sessions Judge, Kinnaur. SC Kainthla, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Nahan, has been posted as District and Sessions Judge, Chamba. Bhim Chand, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Shimla, is Member Secretary, State Legal Services Authority, Shimla.

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Rave party raided in remote forest
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 30
Some residents have revived efforts to organise rave parties that are famous for drug abuse by foreign tourists. The police has thwarted the efforts of some residents of Bhagsunag to organise a rave party in the Rait area of Kangra district.

Enquiries by The Tribune have revealed that a local from Bhagsunag who is running a guest house there had organised it. It was a three-day party that was to start from May 28. He had collected Rs 600 as entry fee from each foreign tourist who wanted to be part of the party. The sources at Bhagsunag said about 150 foreign tourists, most of them from Israel, had deposited the entry fee for the party.

The venue of the party was a hill top in remote forest of Rait area of Kangra district. Drugs, beer and wine were arranged for the three-day party with the help of some local suppliers.

Most of the foreign tourists left for the party on May 28 with local taxi operators. The impact could be felt at tourist places like Bhagsunag and Mcleodganj as large numbers of foreign tourists left for the party leaving the said places deserted.

All could have gone well but the police got information and descended on the scene yesterday. Some of the locals who were present at the party said they fled through the hills to save themselves from the police. However, the foreigners failed to escape.

The police personnel gave a mild thrashing to some of them. However, most of them were allowed to go scot free as nothing incriminating was recovered from them. However, the police arrested Tibetan Tashi, a resident of Mcleodganj, who had supplied drugs, especially charas, for the party.

SP Kangra Atul Fulzele when contacted said 320 gm of charas had been recovered from Tashi. A case under NDPS act has been registered against him.

When asked about the foreign participants in the party, he said they found 80 of them in the party. Most of them were from Israel and a few from Australia. ‘We are writing to their embassies regarding their alleged involvement in illegal drug parties. However, no legal action was being taken against them,’ he said.

The sources said the police was also looking for two locals of Bhagsunag who had arranged the party.

Later, many foreigners who were part of the party fearing police action were in a hurry to leave the the area.

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Health ministry to set up research institute
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi, May 30
In its bid to protect, preserve and promote the vanishing herbal and medicinal wealth of the western Himalayas, the Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has decided to set up a research institute that will conduct an extensive survey of medicinal herbal wealth in the western Himalayas and document all ayurvedic manuscripts in the region for the purpose of research and propagation.

Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of the inspection of the drug testing laboratory and herbal gardens at Jogindernagar today, adviser, Department of Ayush, Dr SK Sharma said, “We will do an extensive survey on medicinal herbs and plants available in the western Himalayas.”

He said after the survey they would find out which species of the medicinal plants have become extinct or rare and would preserve them in herbal gardens. “Second, the research institute in the region will be dedicated to research purpose only as there is no such institute in the country so far,” he added.

He said they would first select a proper site for the research institute in Mandi and Kullu districts. However, the Regional Research Institute at Mandi would continue to function here running its OPDs and other facilities for patients.

Dr Sharma accompanied the high-level team comprising B Anand, joint secretary, Department of Ayush; Dr Lavekar, director-general, Central Council for Research in Ayush and Siddha (CCRAS), New Delhi; and RS Gupta, director, Ayurveda, Himachal. The officer on special duty, Dr Om Sharma, said 7.6 bighas of land had been identified for the institute near Pandoh.

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Singer gets trapped in ‘cap’ politics
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 30
Bollywood playback singer Himani Kapoor who performed at the summer festival yesterday evening at the police grounds got trapped in the Himachali cap politics.

The singer, who enthralled the audience, was presented a red Himachali cap by someone from among the organisers. She adorned it with grace to affiliate with the local audience. However, she did not know about the cap politics of the state. A BJP leader was quick to educate the playback singer about the cap politics. Sources said he told the singer that wearing a green cap would not be liked by the organisers. It is not a Himachali cap and you should not wear it, he allegedly told the singer on the stage.

The perplexed singer who a little while ago was saying that she would not take off the cap, immediately got rid of it creating confusion among the public, many of whom thought she had disrespected the cap.

However, the poor singer was never aware of the fact that the cap is related to political parties in the state. When the Congress is in power the green cap is a symbol of those close to the government while during the BJP regime the red cap comes in fashion.

Meanwhile, the rain gods gave relief to the organisers of the summer festival yesterday evening. After rain stopped the people present at the festival managed to enjoy the songs of Himani Kapoor. Besides her, many local singers, including Karnail Rana, entertained the public.

As a part of the festival, Miss and Mr Kangra contest was organised today. Kusha Dogra was declared Miss Kangra and Deeraj Dadwal Mr Kangra. Garima and Yadanandan Sharma were runners up.

In cultural events: dance event by Government Senior Secondary School, Forsythganj, was declared first, Government Middle School, Bhagsunag, second and Government Senior Secondary School, Sakoh, third.

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3-day conclave to boost tourism
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 30
To showcase the tourism strength of the hill state and prepare a road map for infrastructure development, the Tourism Department and the PHD Chamber of Commerce will hold a three-day tourism conclave next month.

In its endeavour to promote the state as an international tourist destination, the CII has invited foreign experts who will guide the government in preparing a road map for tourism development here. Besides, ‘Opportunities Unlimited’ - a tourism mart exhibiting the folk art and cuisine of other states is also being organised.

The PHD Chamber of Commerce has invited experts who will suggest ways to promote adventure and health tourism without causing any environmental degradation. The endeavour will be to bring out the best and attract the target segment by creating infrastructure, which is one of the biggest inhibiting factors.

Despite having immense tourism potential, the state has not been able to make tourism its mainstay. The thrust would now be on infrastructure development in the form of better air and rail connectivity, promotion of eco-tourism and creation of new and unexplored destinations.

Another sector, where efforts will be made in a big way, is to develop health tourism keeping in view the ideal climatic conditions. The fact that the state has everything to offer right from water sports, adventure and pilgrim tourism, there is lot of scope to attract tourists. The government, too, is keen that the benefits of tourism reach out to the rural people, for which the home stay scheme has also been launched.

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Helpline for women soon
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 30
A toll free helpline for women will be started by the Panchayati Raj Department for prompt redressal of women grievances.

This was stated by Chief Minister PK Dhumal while speaking at the State Women Council meeting held here today. “The government is keen to have the participation of women in every sector and provide them fair representation in proportion to their strength,” he said.

Dhumal said the toll free telephone number of 1800 180 8005 was already operational for the NREGA and complaints, including those relating to atrocities on women, were being registered,” he said, adding that as a major step towards women empowerment the reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions is 50 per cent.

He said efforts were being made to convene the special task force courts to resolve the cases relating to atrocities on women so that they could get prompt justice. He added that the Parents Maintenance Act would be implemented in the letter and spirit.

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5 held for cutting trees
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 30
The police yesterday recovered the logs of conifer and other valuable species, which had been illegally axed in the Koti forest range under Theog division with the alleged connivance of forest officials.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has already registered a case and arrested five persons, including forest officials, for the illegal act. The axe and other material used to cut the trees were recovered yesterday from the Buddhi Jubbar forest near Theog.

The police has arrested Roop Lal (ranger officer), Devinder (beat officer), Jagat Ram (guard), Jeet Ram (forest worker) and Balbir, against whom the damage report had been filed.

The police is also trying to probe the possibility of involvement of senior forest officials in the case. Police sources said the plea being taken by the accused that the tress had been cut for being used as electricity poles had been found to be untrue as no prior permission had been sought nor was there any such proposal.

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Seven killed, 7 hurt in accident
Our Correspondent

Chamba, May 30
Seven persons were killed while seven others were seriously injured in an accident involving private Bolero. The accident occurred on the Chhatrari-Kunr link road in Chamba district as the vehicle went out of control and rolled down into a deep gorge last evening.

On receiving information about the accident last night, officials of the local area headed by Chamba Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sandeep Negi and accompanied by a team of doctors and other officials rushed to the site and carried out relief and rescue operations. Bodies of the deceased were extricated with the help of local people, the SDM said; adding that the vehicle had been damaged badly.

The deceased had been identified as Bushero Devi, Bimla Devi, Dhiana, Ashok Prem Lal, Hukmi Ram and Kishen Chand of the nearby habitations, the SDM informed. The injured had been rushed to the Regional Hospital, Chamba, and are stated to be critical but stable.

An immediate relief of Rs 10,000 each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 5,000 each to the injured had been provided as per the relief annual, the SDM stated. The police had registered a case.

Meanwhile, Speaker Tulsi Ram expressed shock over the accident and conveyed his sympathies with the bereaved families.

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Complaint lodged against pradhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi, May 30
After the Right To Information (RTI) exposed bungling in the fake entries in NREGA work of the complainant’s wife, Jodhaya Devi, a resident of Reur panchayat in Balh, the police yesterday lodged a complaint against the Reur pradhan under the Balh police station.

The bungling in NREGA funds was exposed by the RTI Bureau, Mandi, which obtained information that the accused pradhan had made fake entries of Jodhaya Devi in the NREGA work muster roll for two months.

He allegedly made the fake thumb impression of the woman and got money withdrawn in her name, the RTI showed.

Jodhaya Devi’s job card was 53, but she never applied for any NREGA work nor did she ever worked anywhere, the RTI revealed.

Assisted by the RTI Bureau, Jodhaya Devi, her husband Durga, Param Dev, an RTI Bureau member, and other villagers met the Mandi ASP bringing the bungling with documents into his notice.

Jodhaya Devi said she was a chronic heart patient and had never worked in any village scheme.

Moreover, she does not make thumb impression as she can sign, she asserted.

The villagers charged that the accused pradhan had been making such entries to mint money from the schemes, demanding a thorough enquiry into the affairs of the panchayat.

ASP Madan Lal directed the SHO to file an FIR and to start investigation into the case.

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Couple commit suicide
Our Correspondent

Kangra, May 30
A young couple of Ludhiana committed suicide in a guest house at Chintpurni, falling under the Dhera police station yesterday by consuming Sulfas as the couple was suffering from mental agony, the police said.

Dehra SHO Brijender Jaswal said Surender Kumar (31) and his wife Manjoo (25) of Shivalik Avenue Hevowal, Ludhiana, on Thursday stayed in Parashar Guest House at Chintpurni and allegedly consumed sulfas. He said the police yesterday broke the door of their room and found the couple dead on the bed. They recovered empty packets of sulfas tablets from the room. He said mixture of sulfas was also found in glass on the table.

The police said the suicide note recovered from the bodies said they had been undergoing mental agony, which resulted in committing suicide.

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