Shimla, January 4
The state’s case for restoration of industrial package finally made some headway with the union ministry of commerce recommending its extension up to year 2013 to the union finance minister and the prime minister.

The package was granted in 2003 for a period of 10 years, however, some incentives like exemption in excise duty were curtailed to March, 2007. Subsequently, the package was extended by another three years to March, 2010. However, the state which has been all through demanding its restoration till March, 2013, recently passed a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha urging the Centre for its extension till 2020.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal who met the union minister for commerce and industries minister Anand Sharma at New Delhi today, said that the ministry had recommended the extension of package. He asserted that there was no flight of industries from neighbouring states to Himachal Pradesh as result of the industrial package. In fact, the reputed industrial houses from Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh were setting up additional new units to take advantage of the benefits.

He said that industrial package was sanctioned to the states of Himachal, Uttrakhand and Jammu and Kashmir to accelerate industrialisation view of the tough geographical conditions and backwardness and it had made a positive impact. He said there was no justification of curtailing the package for Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand while continuing the same for Jammu and Kashmir. He urged the union minister that the industrial package should be extended to all these states on the same pattern on which it was sanctioned by the Union Government.

The commerce ministry would set up skill development centres at Solan and Una districts to train the local youths so that they could find jobs in private sector and multi-national companies and also take advantage of self-employment avenues. The minister would play a pro-active role for attracting the investment in food and fruit processing and IT sectors in the state while the state government would provide all the logistic and infrastructure support.

A high-level central delegation headed by Anand Sharma will visit the state tomorrow to assess the impact of the industrial development and further study the scope of industrial expansion in the state and give fresh presentations on industrial development in Himachal Pradesh.

Dharamsala, January 4
Another case of alleged corruption in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has come to the fore. In Masroor village panchayat, the names of schoolchildren have appeared on the muster rolls of development works carried out under NREGA. Interestingly the school children have appeared in the board examinations and worked under NREGA, simultaneously as per the records.

The case has been brought to the fore by DS Patial a retired Central government officer who was now the chairman of the vigilance committee elected, by Masroor village for keeping a watch over the funds being provided under NREGA.

Patial while talking to The Tribune here today said village panchayat of Masroor built a 3 kilometre-long road in the area at a cost of about Rs 3 lakh. Interestingly, half of road was built earlier also. However, the portion of the road that was already intact has also been included in the works under NREGA.

In Kankari village falling under Masroor panchayat a pond of 40 square feet and 11 feet in depth was constructed by the department of forests in 1970. On the same place now pond of half the size and 6 feet deep has been shown to be constructed under NREGA.

As per the terms and conditions issued by the government for any work of more than 50,000 cost, press tenders have to be called. However, in Masroor village no press tenders were called for works carried out under NREGA.

Patial alleged that initially he being elected the chairman of the village vigilance committee, had pointed out that the lower officials of the panchayat department were corrupt. However, no action was taken. I was then forced to collect all the record on my own. I collected the muster rolls in which, the schoolchildren were shown to be employed under NREGA.

It forced the officials concerned to order an inquiry into the embezzlement. After the inquiry started the officials of the panchayat department who were allegedly hand in glove with the accused panchayat officials tampered with the records and issued letters in back date. The concerned officials despite being provided record in black and white took more than five months to complete the inquiry.

The inquiry is now lying with deputy commissioner Kangra RS Gupta for action.

Already the Kangra MP, Rajan Sushant who has recently been made the chairman of district level vigilance committee for monitoring the Central government schemes, expressed concern against the alleged corruption in NREGA.

Mandi, January 4
The Right To Information (RTI) Act has exposed “irregularities in appointment of four college lecturers - English, chemistry, music and political science - on political grounds” at the Government College in Jogindernagar. They were appointed in July, 2009, violating the mandatory University Grants Commission (UGC) norms.

According to RTI information sought by president of the RTI Bureau at Mandi Lawan Thakur, the college appointed four lecturers in English, chemistry, music and political science, who did not have the required qualification. However, the college has compromised with the future of the students by allowing less qualified lecturers to teach them, Thakur said.

The RTI revealed that these lecturers were neither appointed through the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) nor on contract basis as the college kept their appointments under wraps.

“English lecturer Naresh Kumar was a third divisioner with just 44 per cent marks in the subject. He was not an MPhil in the subject as per the UGC norms. Chemistry lecturer Kalpana, a postgraduate from Garhwal University, was still doing her degree when she was appointed to teach the subject in July, 2009,” RTI information revealed.

“Parvesh Kumar, lecturer in music, also had no MPhil degree. Only political science lecturer Dharampal had an MPhil degree, a must under the UGC norms,” the RTI showed.

Thakur said the college did not supply the copy of letter of appointment and did not provide specific information sought by him. The college authorities are evading the reply on even how these lecturers were appointed, throwing the future of students in darkness, he charged.

The RTI bureau has demanded an inquiry into the back door appointments as the hands of political bosses was not ruled out in the case. Even the more qualified candidates were ignored by the college, the RTI revealed.

When college principal RP Thakur was quizzed on the issue, he claimed that the four lecturers were hired by the college on a stopgap arrangement till regular lecturers were appointed by the government. “We are paying their salaries from the PTA,” he added.

Dharamsala, January 4
Somali pirates play gracious hosts to crew of hijacked ships. It is a very organised crime racket. If you do not create any trouble for them, they will provide you everything for making your stay comfortable. They are only concerned with ransom they have to take from owners of the shipping companies. They provide food items asked by the crew of hijacked ships, medical facilities, and occasional facility to call their family members or officials of the company and allow them to stay on ships that anchor just 3 to 4 km from Somali coasts.

Raghuveer Singh Pathania, chief engineer, Pacific Line Ship, who came home today after spending over two months in the custody of Somali pirates, gave this information to The Tribune, revealing another aspect of Somali piracy that was haunting the shipping companies across the world.

He said their ship was surrounded by around 30 pirates equipped with arms on October 15. They showed some aggression after boarding the ship to display to us that our ship had been hijacked. However, that was the only act of aggression they displayed to us during the entire period of confinement. We were trained against reacting to actions of pirates and so we stayed calm and followed their directions. Thereafter, they ordered the shipmaster to take the ship to a Somali beach. Our ship was anchored about 3 to 4 km from the beach. The crew was allowed to stay on board but under constant vigil.

About three to four more ships from different countries could be seen anchored near the beach. According to sources, some of the ships were in their custody for the past six to seven months, however, still their crew was unharmed, Pathania said.

He further said most of ships hijacked by Somali pirates were anchored near the Obyo area of Somalia.

Pathania had no idea as to what amount of ransom was paid to the pirates for securing their release. He said the failed state of Somalia had become bane of the shipping industry.

Though coalition naval forces keep vigil on the pirates in the Red Sea, it is very difficult to man the entire Indian Ocean. The commercial vessels that have a speed of about 30 to 40 nautical miles cannot protect themselves from the small speedboats in possession of the pirates.

Though family members are apprehensive about his returning to job, Pathania termed the entire episode as an occupational hazard. He said, “I will like to return to my job and sail back in oceans.”

Manali, January 4
Tourist town of Manali and its adjoining areas experienced fresh spell of snow last evening, renewing the cold wave like conditions in the region. However, there was bright sunshine in morning. The snow in Manali town was mild and it melted away within a few hours today.

Tourists were thrilled to see the surrounding region donning an impeccable white mantle. The entire upper Manali area was covered with a white blanket of snow, and fresh spell of snow covered Deodar trees on both sides of the hills presenting a beautiful view.

Local residents and tourists had a difficult time driving their vehicles on their way to Kothi and Solang valley today.

A thick layer of snow covered the Manali-Rohtang road near Nehru kund to Solang valley and Kothi village. The traffic on the Manali-Rohtang pass road was disrupted near Nehru kund ,about 5 km from here, this morning.

The famous ski-slopes of Solang valley also witnessed fresh snow. The snow in the Solang valley brought smiles on the faces of young winter sports lovers.

The higher reaches in Kullu valley, including the 13,050 ft high Rohtang pass, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti, Pir Panjal range, Bhrighu slopes, Hamta ski slopes, Chander khani pass, Dhundhi, Marhi and Gulaba also had moderate to heavy snow.

The upper region of the Manali subdivision plunged into darkness due to power failure last night.

The power failure has put residents of Goshal, Shanag, Bahang, Burua, Majhach, Solang, Palchan, Ruar, Kulang, Kothi and Vashisht villages to inconvenience.

Shimla, January 4
State returning officer for the Congress organisational election Rajani Patil said efforts would be made to elect office-bearers of the party at various levels by consensus.

Addressing mediapersons after holding a meeting of the general house here today, she said the two-tier system of having ordinary members and active members was being done away with and only simple members would be enrolled under the new organisational structure. The state had been given the target to enrol 5 lakh plus members by December 31. The district presidents had been asked to submit the list of new members by January 10 for scrutiny.

All disputes pertaining to membership would be settled by the district scrutiny committees and finally by the state scrutiny committee. The election programme will be announced after compilation of the final list of members, she added.

She said her effort would be to ensure a transparent, free and fair organisational poll, as the democratic process was most important for strengthening the party. Scrutiny committees would be constituted shortly so that list of members could be finalised at the earliest.

She said all prominent leaders attended the meeting and she met two Union ministers Virbhadra Singh and Anand Sharma at Delhi, as they were not in a position to come to Shimla due to official engagements.

Patil asserted that she would not bank solely on the feedback given by senior leaders and undertake extensive tour of the state to ascertain views of the party workers at the grassroot.

Shimla, January 4
The annual bird count at the Pong Dam Lake Sanctuary this winter will be a “festive but serious” event aimed at creating awareness about migratory birds, particularly waterfowls, which descend on the man-made reservoir in thousands.

It will be a hi-tech affair in which global positioning system (GPS) will be used for the first time to record the exact locations where the winged visitors from Central Asia are sighted during the census. The state forest department, which is conducting the exercise from January 15 to 17 in association with the Bombay Natural History Society and the WWF-India, has decided to involve a host of people from various walks of life as part of its efforts to enhance and upgrade level of knowledge in the civic society about the fascinating birds.

Created in 1976 by impounding the Beas river the Pong reservoir has already been accorded the status of a Ramsar site keeping in view its increasing importance as a destination for migratory birds. Its location in the extreme northwest of the northern plains makes it a suitable habitat for migratory birds entering the plains of India from Central Asia. So, far over 220 bird species belonging to 54 families have been recorded.

Chief conservator of forests, faunal diversity and protected areas, Sanjeeva Pandey, said the use of GPS was important as the water level keeps receding during winter exposing more and more land, shallows and swamp splits.

The GPS data would enable experts to carry out a proper analysis of migration pattern and identify the exact conditions which attract the birds.

The census conducted last winter from January 30 to February 1, revealed a presence of around 95,000 water birds of 89 species. This year the department had decided to make the event an elaborate affair by inviting interested persons to participate in the bird count exercise. The lodging and boarding would be taken care by the department and the participants were only required to bring along binoculars, camera, bird book, and notebook to make the best of the “birding experience”.

Pong Dam reservoir is the only place in the country after the Bharatpur Sanctuary where the red-necked grebe descends every year. Similarly, though seashore species, the arrival of gulls on this lake also makes it an exception. The water body occupies an area of at least 18,000 hectare and extends up to 30,000 hectare at the peak monsoon.

Solan, January 4
There is no let-up in cannabis smuggling with almost three cases surfacing in as many days on the NH-22 en route Shimla-Chandigarh.

In the latest case, the Dharampur police has nabbed one Hira Lal, a resident of Kullu district, with 200 kg of opium and 5.5 kg of cannabis while he was travelling in an HRTC bus (HP25A-0704) last night.

The contraband was valued between Rs 9-10 lakh and was being transported illegally. The bus was on its way from Reckong Peo to Delhi. This was being considered a major catch as the amount of contraband involved was much larger compared to the previous cases.

This was not the sole case as the Solan police had in two separate cases confiscated about 5.65 kg of cannabis in the past two days in two separate HRTC buses en route Rampur-Chandigarh.

With regular cases of cannabis smuggling surfacing in the district, the Solan police was now putting up regular nakas to nab miscreants. An analysis of these cases showed that majority of the youths nabbed were first timers who were lured into smuggling and it also proved large-scale involvement of Nepalese youths in such acts.

While the police was yet to crackdown on the actual network of smugglers, officials said those nabbed were generally used as easy conduits while those at the helm managed to give the law a convenient slip. As many as 13 cases surfaced in the past two months where 36.8 kg of cannabis and 350 gm of opium had been seized.

It was interesting to note that while the Solan police had intensified its campaign to nab offenders, the Shimla police seem to have done little to tighten noose around such miscreants.

All cases, which had surfaced in the past two months, conveniently used HRTC buses, as they were the sole long route buses available in the state. While the Reckong Peo-Delhi route was most frequently used by smugglers, the Shimla police appear to have done little to dissuade smugglers at their end.

Officials said offenders travelled from Kullu-Manali and then Shimla to reach Chandigarh from where the contraband was supplied elsewhere. Though the efforts of the police were commendable, despite almost a dozen cases of smuggling coming through in the past, the police was yet to lay hands on any organised gang who ran the smuggling networks regularly.

Shimla, January 4
The country’s largest Nathpa Jhakri hydroelectric project successfully demonstrated its “black start” capability to restore power during the recent failures of the northern grid which led to a virtual blackout in the region.

In fact, the project had carried out a mock exercise to acquire “black start” expertise on October 21 last as part of grid contingency plan. The experienced gained dung exercise was put to good use in the wee hours of January 2 when the grid collapse led to power outage in the entire region, except part of South Haryana.

With the vast expansion of the grid only big projects with requisite technical capability could be used for black starting for restoration of supply. With six generating units of 250 MW each Nathpa Jhakri is ideal for such emergency operations.

Explaining the procedure general manager of the project NC Bansal said unlike the normal operations, the generating machine was synchronised through back charging by obtaining reference regarding voltage and frequency from the grid. However, in the event of grid collapse no such reference could be drawn and the engineers had to “black start” the generating machine to revive the grid.

It required forward charging of the grid up to a distance of 250 to 300 km, which not only required a high capacity machine but also technical know how for successfully completing the operations. In the instant case the line was forwarded from Jhakri to Abdullapur near Yamunanagar and Nalagarh in Himachal.

It required precautions as lapse could lead to abrupt halting of the machine which could even result in damaging it. As the rigs voltage continued to vary the inflow of the water which move the turbines has to be adjusted accordingly and the entire process could take 90 minutes to two hours during which supply to critical services like railways and other sectors is released gradually.

Shimla, January 4
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will hold meetings with the legislators for finalising the annual plan and budget priorities on January 14 and 15.

An official spokesperson said the meeting with MLA’s of Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts would be held on January 14 and with the MLA’s of Mandi, Chamba and Bilaspur would be held in afternoon on the same day.

On the following day meeting with the MLA’s of Kangra and Kulu would be held in the forenoon and Una, Hamirpur, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti in the afternoon.

Mandi, January 4
Joining the Congress in protest against Director-General of the state Anti-Corruption and Vigilance Bureau DS Manhas, the NSUI activists today burnt his effigy in the town in protest against the vilification campaign launched by Manhas in the media against Mandi MP and Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Leading the protest march against the DG, NSUI president Yadhopati Thakur warned Manhas that the NSUI criticised the way he was issuing statements against Virbhadra Singh, the five-time CM and most respected leader in the state, at the behest of the present regime. His statements against our leader were politically motivated, he charged.

Convener of the Congress Kisan Sabha Surinderpal Thakur, former Milkfed chairman Chet Ram Thakur, former Nachen Congress MLA Tek Chand Dogra and spokesperson of the kisan sabha Taran Pathak flayed the DG’s statement on the CD issue against Virbhadra Singh.

The Congressmen stated that the DG should either resign from the post and join the party or refrain from issuing such statements. He was trying to malign the clean image of Virbhadra by issuing the statements here and there over the sub judice issue, they charged.