Shimla, August 29
Offended by allegations of phone tapping levelled against it by union minister Virbhadra Singh, the Dhumal regime has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to get an inquiry by any central agency into the charges so that the truth in this regard can be known.

Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today wrote to the Prime Minister that the state government has been very distressed at levelling of such allegations by a member of the union government.

“Since the charges are of very serious nature, the Centre is free to get the matter inquired by a central agency as the state government too wants that truth prevails,” he confirmed.

In his letter Dhumal has clearly stated that it was for the Centre to decide on the investigating agency, which is to be entrusted the task.

The chief minister has already stated in the assembly earlier that the state government was open to an inquiry by the CBI, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) or any other central agency.

It is learnt that in his letter Dhumal has conveyed that he and his government were very pained and hurt at levelling of such charges by a union minister when there was not an iota of truth in the allegations.

He has also made reference of the fact that the issue also echoed in the state assembly when independent MLA Rakesh Pathania had raised it through a call attention motion.

It was on his arrival here from Delhi early this week that Union Steel minister Virbhadra Singh had alleged that his phone was being tapped and the police and vigilance were being used by the Dhumal regime to frame him.

“I do not even have the remotest connection to the CD case because when it was recorded 20 years back, I was not too active in politics and moreover, it was released by a Congress MLA Mankotia on May 28, 2007, when Virbhadra was the chief minister himself,” he remarked.

Giving further details he said it was during the Congress regime only that the CD was handed over to the Vigilance on November 27, 2007, and later sent for forensic science laboratory examination.

Dhumal said Virbhadra Singh had filed a criminal defamation against Vijai Singh Mankotia in the CD case and the government was nowhere in the picture.

“If we wanted to use the CD to get political mileage we would have issued it before the Mandi Lok Sabha elections but that was not our intention,” he emphasised.

It is following the registration of an FIR against Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh in the audio CD case that the union minister has been accusing the BJP regime of using vigilance to get back at his political opponents.

Shimla, August 29
Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today said the BJP would emerge stronger and bounce back to power after rectification, analysis and removal of shortcomings as this was the most opportune time for such an act.

Talking to mediapersons at a “Meet the Press” here today the chief minister said such “chintan” or deliberations were always in the interest of the party as after introspection one tried to look at the shortcomings which would be removed in the interests of the party.

“The situation is not so grim as being projected as we still have 116 MPs which is any day better than our position in 1984 when we were reduced to two MPs, he said, sounding optimistic.

Drawing parallel with the Congress he said if the Congress could be voted out of power after its best-ever performance of 416 MPs in 1984, then there is no reason for despair in the BJP,” he opined.

He added that with the next Lok Sabha polls being four and a half years away, this was the best time for introspection and looking for reasons for defeat.

He, however, refused to comment on remarks by RSS or BJP leaders. “There can be no age for recruitment or retirement in politics,” was all he said in his reaction to age bar condition being fixed in politics.

He reiterated his government’s commitment to removing encroachments from government land and said all DCs and SPs had already been directed to take up the task on priority.

“I have already stated that poor should be given relief while the violators must be punished,” he said.

He said the Congress had launched a misinformation campaign on the issue of amendments in Section 118 of the HP Land Reform and Tenancy Act, 1972.

“Barring an amendment in the HP Land Revenue Act, 1954, we have not made any amendment in the Tenancy Act as being claimed by the Congress,” he said.

He added that all four amendments in the Act had been made during successive Congress rule.

The Congress was itself guilty as certain permissions had been given in violation of the Act.

With regard to a case of excess land against Virbhadra Singh he said he was not aware if the excess land surrendered by him had been vested with the government or not.

“I don’t know of 24 points in which he has been given a clean chit by the CBI, but the agency had observed that preliminary inquiry did not indicate anything,” he said.

Shimla, August 29
Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today said that the 100 days of the Congress regime had at the Centre had been completely disappointing for the hill state as none of its demands had so far been accepted.

Dhumal said so far no decision had been taken on restoring the special industrial package given to Himachal till 2013.

“We have not received a penny against the Rs 2,000 crore we have sought for damage caused due to rains and floods last year,” he lamented.

The chief minister said the reduced ration quota of the hill state had also not been restored so far.

“The delay in starting of the central university has been most disappointing as like the NIIT, the session should have started from this academic year,” he regretted.

He added that the state government had already selected a chunk of land measuring over 500 bighas.

Dhumal said even with regard to the rail budget Himachal’s claims had been ignored and the hill state had not benefited.

Notwithstanding the ignoring of Himachal’s claims by the Centre, the chief minister is once again writing to the Prime Minister for restoration of the industrial package given till 2013 and considering allotment of an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) to the hill state.

Shimla, August 29
The Congress today demanded that BJP leader LK Advani should not only quit the post of the Leader of Opposition in Parliament but also tender an apology to the nation for his role in the “note-for-vote” scam that had shown the Indian democracy in a bad light.

Addressing a press conference today, HPCC spokesperson and general secretary Kuldeep Rathore said the revelation made by former BJP leader Jaswant Singh about Advani’s role in the “note-for-vote” scam was not just shocking but unpardonable.

“There is no reason for us to doubt Jaswant’s disclosure which made Advani a party to such a disgraceful act which till date is a blot on our democracy,” he remarked.

Rathore said Advani had even lied to the nation that he was not aware about the exchange of dreaded militants for getting the hostages released whereas now, Brajesh Mishra had confirmed that as the Home Minister, he was party to the unanimous decision taken by the PM and the Cabinet committee on security.

“Today there is talk of change of leadership in the BJP but what we feel is that the party needs to change its whole mindset and thinking,” he said.

He added that the BJP had failed in playing the role of a constructive Opposition, which is why the people rejected the party in the Lok Sabha polls.

Rathore said the BJP was on the verge of disintegration with its top leadership levelling charges at each other.

Taking the BJP to task for criticising the UPA regime for price rise, he said the Congress was equally worried and concerned about the issue.

“The PM has held a meeting with chief ministers of all states while AICC chief Sonia Gandhi has asked all Congress MPs and MLAs to contribute 20 per cent of their salary towards the PM Relief Fund,” he said.

He said rather than holding token demonstrations, it would be better if the BJP too issued such directives to its members rather than politicising the issue of price rise which was a result of grim global economic scenario.

Shimla, August 29
The executive council (EC) of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) today approved an amendment in the Wilson Policy with regard to recruitment of teachers.

The agenda item pertaining to amendment in the Wilson Policy dominated the proceedings of the EC chaired by Vice-Chancellor Prof SK Gupta.

Despite the fact that there were 20 agenda items but still discussion on the Wilson Policy took almost two-and-a-half hours before the amendment in the tally sheet was approved.

Amid protests and warning by the SFI and the NSUI that they would move court over the matter, the EC approved the amendment.

“There is only a slight change where we have reduced the marks for experience and publication so that meritorious candidates seeking jobs were not at a disadvantage,” said Kripal Parmar, EC member.

He said only a minor amendment had been made and the 80:20 ratio for academics and viva-interview would remain the same as contained in the Wilson Policy.

“The marks for experience have been reduced from 10 to 5 while the 15 marks for publication had been merged with academics,” he explained.

He added that the amendment had been made only with respect to appointment of lecturer and not any other teaching posts.

The Congress Teachers’ Cell, the SFI and the NSUI had been opposing the proposed amendment and had even submitted memorandum to the Governor in this regard.

They have even threatened to move court as they said that even the high court had appreciated the recruitment policy framed by former VC Anil Wilson.

The NSUI and the SFI said the amendment was being made to facilitate back-door entry of the ABVP and people close to the BJP in the HPU.

With the approval of the amendment in the policy now all fresh recruitments would be done on the changed pattern.

Besides this, the EC also approved starting of PG diploma and master’s degree in mass communication at the Regional Centre, Dharamsala.

A penalty of Rs 50,000 would be imposed with show-cause notice on erring private BEd colleges who do not fulfil shortcomings pointed by the inspection committee.

The EC also approved the syllabus for three and five years law classes. It approved the guidelines issued by the UGC for minimum qualification required for appointment and career advancement scheme for teachers.

Shimla, August 29
Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today called upon voluntary organisations in the state to come forward to check menace of drug abuse in educational institutions and sensitise youth about the ill-effects of drugs.

He was speaking at a blood donation camp and a signature campaign launched by the Youth Enlightening the Society (YES) in collaboration with the Umang Foundation here today.

“Youth is today falling easy prey to drugs as they are being targeted by anti-social elements who are into drug trafficking,” he regretted.

While assuring full help and assistance from the government in the fight against drugs he said the involvement of the NGOs and social organisations would be a welcome step and effective in making the youth aware about the ill-effects of drugs.

He appreciated the efforts of YES in organising a blood donation camp. “Blood donation is a very noble cause which must be promoted by every citizen,” he remarked. A total of 101 units of blood was collected at the camp.

The president of the Umang Foundation, Ajai Srivastav, said in order to keep the blood donation movement away from professional donors and commercialisation, holding of such voluntary camps was essential.

Palampur, August 29
Drought-like condition in the months of June and July have caused heavy losses to the Kangra valley tea industry this year.

There has been a record fall in the production of green tea leaves as compared to the previous year.

In most of the tea gardens in the valley, plucking of green tea leaves could not pick up because of bad weather conditions in April and May, whereas the best quality of tea leaves are plucked only in April which gives good returns to the growers.

According to official sources, production of green leaf had come down to 30 to 50 per cent in the valley.

Small tea growers were the worst-hit where the fall in the production had been recorded up to 60 per cent. The total loss so far has been estimated at Rs 50 lakh.

However, experts and scientists working in the CSIR and the HPAU say that the total loss can touch Rs one crore.

The dust storm, which had engulfed the region in May and June, further aggravated the situation as tea bushes remained covered with thick coat of dust, making it difficult for growers to pluck the leaves.

The soources revealed that in first week of April last year, total production of green leaves was 1,00,000 kg whereas this year it had come down to 70,000 kg.

The Palampur Cooperative Tea Factory, which was already in red, has been adversely affected because of poor inflow of green leaves this year. Its production has come down by 30 to 40 per cent this year.

So far this unit has suffered a total loss of Rs 20 lakh and it could go up if the production of green tea leaves is not improved.

Kangra, August 29
The Congress today lambasted Chief Minister Prof PK Dhumal for his alleged “deliberate” attempt to shatter the proposal of Central University in Kangra district and for misleading innocent people of the state on this issue.

Former MP Prof Chander Kumar alleged here today that the state government was eager to set up the university at Dehra for its political and vested interests and kept the visiting central team away from other available and suitable sites despite repeated requests from former Health Minister Chandresh Kumari and former Revenue Minister BBL Butail.

He said papers of undisputed government land at Dharamsala were submitted but the state government was eager for Dehra which was a forest land.

Former Forest Minister Chander Kumar said the forest land, according to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, could not be transferred to government for non-forest use.

Prof Kumar described it as an alleged “incompetence” on the part of the state government for it did not suggest any alternative site for the university at Dharamsala and at Shahpur.

Kangra, August 29
The first-ever Whipple operation, an ultra-major surgery done for treating cancer of pancreas, was performed at Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda, successfully.

The surgery which lasted for nearly eight hours, has made this college join the select league of major national medical institutes of the country like the PGI, Chandigarh, and AIIMS, New Delhi.

Dr Anil Chauhan, principal of the college, today said that Pritam (50), a resident of Nagrota Bagwan, reported with jaundice but was diagnosed with cancer of pancreas. He said the surgery was complex with a mortality risk of 30 per cent.

Pritam was operated upon by a team of doctors headed by Prof Sanjeev Kumar Sharma and comprising Dr Som Raj Mahajan, Dr Bhanu Gupta and Dr Vikrant Minhas.

Prof Sanjeev had been trained at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, and was an expert in cancer surgery, he added. Prof Sanjeev said such a surgery needed team effort of various departments.

Accordingly, the police had registered a case and arrested the accused, according to a police report here today.