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Land Reforms Act
Sher Singh elected district BJP chief
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BJP Party Poll
India to take up George Cross issue with UK
From pillar to post for a BPL status
Micro-power Projects
Eight impounded vehicles go missing
Cement firm told to maintain status quo
Increase in rape cases worries police
Workshop on ‘beema yojna’
Case for making lewd calls registered
Four university deans removed
SFI supports students on fee hike
Review meeting of Health Dept held
First phase of polio campaign from Jan 10
Freedom fighter’s wife dies
Scheme launched
Forest official held for graft
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Land Reforms Act
Shimla, January 7 Over the past 15 years over 75,000 hectare of farmland, almost 15 per cent of the total cultivable land, has been diverted to non-agriculture use. The available published data from the annual season and crop report reveals that the net sown area has declined from 5,82,797 hectare in 1990-91 to 5,40,518 hectare in 2003-04. The cultivable fallow land increased from 60,068 hectare to 72,661 hectare over the period. The number of landless farmers has been increasing and the already small size of land holdings is being reduced further. The average size of landholding has come down to 1.1 hectare, as per 2000-01 agriculture censuses. However, marginal farmers with average holding of just 0.4 hectare accounted for 70 per cent and small farmers (1.4 hectare) comprised another 20 per cent. With politicians in power using Section 118, under which non-agriculturists cannot acquire land in the state without prior permission, to oblige influential persons from outside the state, it has not served the desired purpose. It has only helped politicians in power and other influential people who can manage permissions under Section 118. Property dealers have little role in land transactions in the state. There have been instances of housing flats coming up in land acquired for tourism and other projects. The rate of diversion has doubled after the grant of the industrial package and opening floodgates for private universities, which are being seen as a greater evil than the much-maligned SEZs as far as the interests of the state and people are concerned. Worse, a large number of non-agriculturist Himachalis have not been able to acquire land for even building a small residential house, because of Section 118. In case the purpose of the Act is to prevent diversion of farmland than the owner should be granted permission for selling the land rather than the buyer obtaining permission for purchasing it, as is the case now. Himachal is the only state that has a land use board but no land use policy or plan. In other state diversion of agriculture land is not that easy and evokes strong reactions. In contrast, the Forest Conservation Act that came into force in 1980 has to a large extent prevented diversion of forests and over the past 30 years 8,600 hectare of forest area has been diverted. |
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Sher Singh elected district BJP chief
Shimla, January 7 Chauhan who has earlier remained general secretary of the district BJP unit, was elected unanimously for the post in the presence of horticulture minister Narender Bragta, MP Virender Kashyap, MLAs Suresh Bhardwaj and Khushi Ram Balnatah and former Speaker Radha Raman Shastri. Chauhan is learnt to be close to Rohru MLA, Balnatah. State organisation secretary Mahender Pandey was present at the state BJP office in Chakkar here to ensure that the election is a smooth affair and there is complete unanimity over the issue. All 16 voters, including the eight mandal chiefs and an equal number of delegates, from all assembly constituencies in the district were present at the time of election. Though both the Shanta camp led by Balnatah and the Dhumal faction led by Bragta had been trying to get majority support to install their man on the post but finally the election was held unanimously. It was also felt that this time the post should be given to a leader hailing from the Rampur area. |
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BJP Party Poll
Hamirpur, January 7 The election in-charge for organisational polls in Hamirpur district Randhir Sharma has fixed January 9 as the date for electing the district president. The present district president Baldev Sharma was out of this race since as per organisational principles nobody can continue the district president for two consecutive terms. Other aspirants for the post of district president are Pyare Lal Sharma and Desh Raj Sharma, both belonging to the Bamsan Assembly constituency represented by Chief Minister PK Dhumal in the state Assembly and Anil Thakur and Vinod Thakur both from the Hamirpur Assembly segment. Both Pyare Lal Sharma and Desh Raj Sharma have held important party posts in the past and have been playing important role in the party. Pyare Lal is also president of district marketing board at present while Desh Raj Sharma is active in cooperative movement. On the other hand Vinod Thakur is general secretary of the district BJP and active in the party since college days and has held several posts in ABVP and Yuva Morcha organisations. Anil Thakur was Hamirpur BJP Mandal president also. Some party leaders this time are pushing forward the idea of giving the post of president to a candidate from Rajput community keeping in view the caste combination. Their main contention is that Rajput community is dominating caste in the district with about 62 per cent population and as Brahmin candidates have been getting this post for almost a decade the president this time should be elected from this community. However, the final decision about electing the district president is likely to depend on the preference of Dhumal since Hamirpur is his home district and all aspirants are close to him. Some of the district party leaders are already meeting the Chief Minister at Shimla today in this regard. |
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India to take up George Cross issue with UK
Shimla, January 7 A special messenger from the state CID today took complete details of the case to the various central agencies in Delhi so that the matter can be pursued between the two countries. In fact, the British High Commission too is keen to get the details and progress of the case as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles had sent Christmas and New Year greetings to Brahmi Devi for the first time since 1946. “As per wishes of various central agencies we have sent complete details and the progress of the case to the CBI, the Home Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs so that the matter can be taken up at the higher level,” said ADGP (CID), I.D.
Bhandari. In fact, seeing the sensitivity of the case, it is likely to be handed over to the state CID from the district police. At present it is Bilapsur police which is handling the case as they had lodged an FIR against L.M. Jain, a Delhi-based dealer and Ashok Nath, a London-based NRI, who had put up the George Cross for sale. Following the stalling of the auction of the George Cross awarded posthumously to Kirpa Ram of the 8th battalion of 13th Frontier Force Rifles in 1946, Himachal police has been in touch with its owner Ashok Nath and Jain in connection with the
theft case. “Though the auction of the George Cross was stalled but even now it is still in the possession of the auction house and not with its owner Ashok Nath,” said Bhandari. The police had asked both Jain and Nath to personally appear before the police with regard to theft of the George Cross case registered by Bilaspur police but the two have yet to join investigations. Brahmi Devi had earlier got a police complaint registered on February 3, 2002, that the medal had been stolen from her house. Brahmi Devi, widow of martyr Kirpa Ram, had met Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal and had asked that the medal be brought back. S.S. Chandel, a retired IAS officer who had brought the issue of the auction of the medal in London to the notice of the government and the police, was also in touch with Nath who had spoken about returning the medal to the state government for
safe custody. |
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From pillar to post for a BPL status
Mandi, January 7 He is eking out his
living by working under NREGA. Narrating his tale of woes, Devi Singh said his daughter was about seven years old when Kahan Singh (14) raped her on September 18, 2003. The police arrested the accused on the charges of rape and the trial was going on at the Juvenile Court in Una since then, as both were minor. Devi Ram took her daughter to a destitute home, Prem Ashram, in Una. But was told to pay Rs 3,500 for a mentally challenged kid. “I have no money as I earn my livelihood by working under NREGA or other works and cannot afford the amount,” he rued. Despite the fact that the state government claimed that it had rehabilitation programmes for the destitute and physically and mentally challenged
children in the state and also a separate ministry for social justice and women empowerment, nobody had helped Devi Singh so far. “Nobody listens to voiceless poor people like me,” he rued. Devi Singh said he had to take his daughter along with him when the family goes out for work. “We do not know how we should manage our daughter. She is not safe at home as there is nobody to take care of her,” he added. Officials of the Prem Ashram claimed that they do not charge from BPL families for enrolling mentally challenged children into the ashram. But poor people like Devi Singh have no BPL certificate to avail this benefit. Devi Singh had approached the Mandi DC to get the BPL status for his family, but to no avail. His file remains dumped for the past year, as concerned dealing clerks have no answers for their highhandedness. Now, president of the RTI Bureau at Mandi Lawan Thakur has taken up the cause of the shattered family seeking RTI information on the status of Devi Singh’s application. Mandi DC Amandeep Garg said the BPL list was prepared by the gram sabha, but the applicant could make an appeal in the office to redress the grievance. “Still we will ask the BDO to send a report on this for further action,” he added. |
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Micro-power Projects
Dharamsala, January 7 On directions from the state government, the board of directors of Kangra Cooperative Bank had proposed to finance power projects up to 5 MW in the state. The basic idea was to finance Himachal residents who have been allotted micro-hydel projects. The state government had formed the policy to allot micro-hydel projects up to 5 MW to residents of Himachal. However, the locals generally do not have finances to bring up the projects. The nationalised banks generally do not finance the projects, as state residents do not have guarantee for such huge loans that run into crores. So, the state government had urged Kangra Cooperative Bank to finance such projects. According to sources, NABARD was apprehensive about the security of investments of small farmers in case Kangra Cooperative Bank was allowed to finance power projects. The general per MW construction cost of power projects in the state has escalated to about Rs 7-8 crore. So, if a Himachal resident applies for loan to construct a 5 MW project, the bank will have to provide finance of about Rs 40 crore. NABARD officials were of the view that such huge loans would deprive the small farmers of loans, as huge investments would go into power projects. Besides, NABARD was also apprehensive about the viability of small power projects and security of investments of small farmers. The sources said according to the policy of NABARD, the cooperative banks could not give loans of more than Rs 40 lakh to a single person. In case the cooperative banks want to sanction loans of the above said amount than that have to seek prior approval of NABARD. Managing director of Kangra Cooperative Bank JS Pathania admitted that NABARD had raised objections to the proposed idea of the bank to finance micro-hydel projects. He, however, added that since the bank had adequate funds we were still pushing with our case. Pathania also said the policy of NABARD was formed keeping in view the cooperative banks of the entire state. However, since the condition of Kangra Cooperative Bank was different we were requesting for special consideration. |
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Eight impounded vehicles go missing
Solan, January 7 It was reliably learnt that the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) at Solan had impounded 47 vehicles on December 30 from the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area as they were operating illegally without paying any tax. They were impounded under Sections 207 and 16(2) of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, and majority of these vehicles belonged to the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and few from Rajasthan. The regional manager at Nalagarh had duly received these vehicles as they were impounded and handed over to him for safe custody the same day. However, the RTA today learnt that eight of the 47 vehicles had gone missing from the regional manager’s office and no information was officially available about their location. The vehicles that were missing included PB-08BK-3322, PB-07M-7541, PB-12C-4842, PB-12-4581, PB-12D-9486, HR-68-9132, PB-10BM-9964 and RJ-13G-6945. Since the disappearance of vehicles had caused obstruction to the official working of the RTA a letter had been shot off to the director transport apprising him of the incident. Secretary of the State Transport Authority BL Raghav said he was informed about such an incident by the RTA and was awaiting the receipt of official letter consequent to which he would decide further action. According to sources, this was not the lone case as in September, last year, too, the RTA had impounded a container and it was later let off unofficially from the regional manager’s office. No complaint was lodged with the police about the vehicle having been missing and it was only after another container belonging to the same company was impounded later on that the owner came forward to get it released after paying the dues.
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Cement firm told to maintain status quo
Shimla, January 7 A Division Bench of the high court directed the state government and the central government to file a reply in eight weeks. The court directed the respondents to file reply to the application in two weeks and listed the matter before the vacation judge for January 22. The interim order was passed on a petition alleging that the respondent company was raising construction over the land without having valid lease deed. It was alleged that the status of the company is mere of an encroacher. The petitioner added that the respondent company had moved a proposal for setting up a plant at the place in question. The proposal was cleared in a single window in 2004 and the central government had also conveyed permission for use of the forest land for non-forestry purpose. It was alleged that land in question had vested in the state government under the Village Common Vesting Land Act and same cannot be used for any other purpose than mentioned in the Act. It was alleged that the permission was granted for blending plant but the respondent company has started construction for thermal power plant in an illegal manner. It was alleged that villagers and panchayat had opposed the proposal of the company for setting up the plant in question. |
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Increase in rape cases worries police
Shimla, January 7 As compared to the past year there has been almost 20 per cent increase in the number of rape cases, causing concern in the police circles over the disturbing trend. What is unfortunately even more alarming is the fact that in a large number of cases the victims are girls under the age of 10 who have invariably been victimised by their own blood relations, mostly middle-aged men. As compared to 145 rapes committed till the end of November last year, this year the figure has already touched 173. “Seeing the considerable increase in the number of rape cases in 2009 we have decided to undertake an in-depth case to study so that we can arrive at some conclusive facts which can be disseminated to the people as a precautionary measure,” says Director-General Police, GS Gill. He says though rape is a crime which cannot be checked by the police but the fact that in a large number of cases the accused is an uncle, cousin or a close family relation of the girl is certainly a pointer towards the fact that the crime is taking place within the four walls of the house. “Though we do not have exact figures as to how many relations exploited the minor girls in their own relations but since many such cases have come to my notice, we will undertake a study and then arrive at conclusions,” he emphasises. What is interesting to note is that in most other crimes against women there has been a decline. The number of dowry deaths are down to one from seven last year and cases of cruelty towards women also declined to 276 from 310 last year. |
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Workshop on ‘beema yojna’
Shimla, January 7 Health and Family Welfare Minister Rajeev Bindal said here yesterday that a workshop on Rashtriya Swashta Beema Yojna would be held here on January 8 and the MoU would also be signed then. The director-general, labour and employment, Anil Swaroop would sign the MoU on behalf of the Centre and principal secretary, health, PC Dhiman on behalf of the state. Bindal further said the second phase of the Rashtriya Swashta Beema Yojna for the BPL (below poverty line) families would be implemented in the 10 districts from March 1, 2010. He said smart cards to all BPL families would be issued from January to April, 2010, and hospitalisation health insurance cover would be provided from March 1, 2010. |
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Case for making lewd calls registered
Chamba, January 7 The police sources revealed that Kehar Singh, a resident of Salwan village had got an FIR registered with the police alleging that his wife had been receiving obscene calls on her mobile from some unidentified mischievous persons for the past two months. The police was trying to find out the subscribes of the phone numbers used for making such anonymous obscene calls to the woman so that the accused could be booked, the sources added. |
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Four university deans removed
Dharamsala, January 7 A professor of university Dr Khalan Bassi along with two others had challenged the selection of said functionaries in the high court. He had contended that the constitution of the selection committee for the said posts was not as per statutes of the university. The university authorities made changes during the selection process. With said functionaries removed they would now have to serve in their respective departments. According to sources, one of the removed functionaries would serve in his parent department for the first time. Till the new selections are made the charge of four positions would remain with Vice-Chancellor Tej Pratap. |
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SFI supports students on fee hike
Hamirpur, January 7 In a press note secretariat member Joginder Kumar said students of this
institute had been agitating against fee hike by the management of the
institute, however, principal of the institute was allegedly threatening them. He accused that some private institutions have been demanding money from the students on one pretext or the other and when students oppose they were being threatened. The SFI has decided to oppose the unreasonable demand of money from the students by some private institutions and support agitation of the students. |
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Review meeting of Health Dept held
Shimla, January 7 He was speaking at the review meeting of the Health Department and NRHM, held here today. “Out of a total of 572 primary health centres, RKSs have been formed in 568 and also in all zonal, regional and district hospitals,” he said. He added that a rule book had been prepared for smooth and effective functioning of the RKS. He rued that despite the NRHM starting in 2005, very little work was done in the initial two years. He said after assuming power, the BJP regime undertook work on a war footing to create basic infrastructure. He said a sum of Rs 19 crore had been released to the primary health centres under seed money, repair and maintenance and flexi-pool schemes. He said to ensure quality infrastructure in the rural areas, a sum of Rs 27 crore was being spent on the construction of primary health centres and sub-health centres during the current year.
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First phase of polio campaign from Jan 10
Bilaspur, January 7 The campaign would be giving drops to more than 35,037 children up to age of five years at 281 booths which have been set up at most vantage points in the entire district here. This was said by Additional District Magistrate BR Kaundal while presiding over a meeting of concerned officers to ensure 100 per cent success of the campaign in the district here. Kaundal said 1,124 fully-trained employees have been deputed on this duty of administration of polio drops in the district here and help of voluntary organisations and mahila mandals, yuvak mandals, gram panchayats and other social organisations has also been sought. Kaundal urged all parents and gram panchayat representatives to ensure that all children up to the age of five years are brought to the nearest polio booths to give these life saving drops and they are helped to make their lives secure and better.
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Freedom fighter’s wife dies
Kullu, January 7 Various organisations, NGOs and Congress leaders mourned the death in a condolence meeting here today. Former minister Satya Prakash Thakur said Sewati Devi’s death had put an end to the “Prarthi era”. He said Lal Chand Prarthi was not only a great leader but also a great laureate who had written many books and Urdu poems. Prem Lata Thakur, chairperson, Himachal Pradesh State Welfare Board; Ses Ram, chairman, Zila Parishad and Raghubir Singh, a former MLA, were among those who attended the condolence meeting. |
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Scheme launched
Hamirpur, January 7 Joshi said this Rs 300 crore project would play an important role in improving the economy of the farmers and making them self-reliant. He said the state government was spending Rs 600 crore under different schemes to improve milk production and benefit the farmers. |
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Forest official held for graft
Shimla, January 7 According to S.P.S. Verma, DIG (Vigilance), a team of the vigilance arrested him this afternoon when he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from Hari Ram Khimta of Tungali village in chopal tehsil. Gupta had allegedly asked for a bribe to grant Khimta the contract for transportation of the wood felled by the Forest Corporation. A case has been registered against him under Section 7 and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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