Shimla, January 19
The sedate political atmosphere of the hill state was surcharged suddenly with the surreptitious release of three CDs targeting the ruling BJP leaders.

The triple pack, containing two audio and one video CD, reached offices of major newspapers and electronic channels through private courier service. While the video CD featured BJP MP from Shimla Virender Kashyap, the audio CDs, purportedly, as claimed in the transcript enclosed in the pack, had voices of Chief Minister PK Dhumal and Director General of Police (Vigilance), DS Manhas.

The video CD appeared to be a sting operation showing some unidentified person seeking help for obtaining permission for acquiring land for setting up an educational institute in Solan district. The clipping, which also showed currency notes being given, made it evident that it was carried out in April, 2009, just before the Lok Sabha poll. The total duration of the clip, recorded in a hotel, is 43 minutes.

Intriguingly, one of the audio CDs only had one voice and the voice of the other person in the conversion was blacked out. The other CD had references to phone tapping but it was difficult to understand the entire conversation in a proper context. Some of the conversation, in which names of Vijay Mankotia, Shanta Kumar, Virbhadra Singh and Pratibha Singh figured, seemed out of context. Some portions were not audible and voice quality was also poor. Only forensic examination could ascertain authenticity of the CDs.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal, who was away to Delhi, said he had not, so far, seen or heard the CDs. What he had come to know from mediapersons, it appeared to be a cut and paste job. I would not be in a position to say anything until I hear the CDs, he added.

Meanwhile, DGP Manhas also said he had, so far, not heard the CD and he could not say anything until he heard the audio clipping. Virender Kashyap was not available for comments.

This is the third time over the past three years that inconvenient CDs, featuring political leaders in power, have surfaced. First it was the Katwal audio tapes which caused much embarrassment to the then ruling Congress, thereafter former Congress minister released an audio CD pertaining to conversation of 1989 on the basis of which a case was registered against Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Solan, January 19
Working of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, has come under a cloud with the university’s interview board granting marks of presentation and interview to an absentee candidate.

The case pertains to conduct of interviews for two posts of assistant professor for the Department of Post Harvest Technology, which were held on July 31, 2009. These facts were revealed recently when a candidate sought information under the RTI Act.

A perusal of the available record revealed that 10 candidates had appeared for the interview as was apparent by the attendance sheet and the candidate in question Anju Bhat was marked absent. A copy of the score sheet, however, showed that she had been given three marks out of five for presentation and 11 marks out of 20 for interview and her total score was shown as 68.16.

It was surprising to note that a seven-member interview board, chaired by Vice-Chancellor Dr KR Dhiman and comprising Dean, Director Research, an ICAR nominee, two subject experts and a departmental representative were part of the gross error. While it pointed a finger at the board, one wondered how marks had been awarded without the candidate being present.

VC Dr Dhiman, while admitting that it was a careless mistake, defended the board by asserting that they did not intend to favour the candidate as she did not figure anywhere in the panel and it was a mere error. He also added that he had directed the board to enlist marks of the academic performance of only those candidates who were present during the interview.

However, this too appeared to be a lame excuse as the marks pertaining to the academic performance too had been duly enlisted in the score sheet for the absentee candidate and she had received a total of 68.16 marks for the interview where she was never present.

Interestingly, out of 10 candidates, at least five secured marks between 7 and 9 which were less than the score of the absent candidate who was awarded 11 marks without appearing for the interview. This meant that a candidate, while staying absent, could perform better than the candidates who appeared for the interview.

This finding has cast serious aspersions on the whole procedure at a time when the university was under scanner for several appointments executed in the past.

Hamirpur, January 19
Continuation of president of the Himachal Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh (HRAS) on the post after retirement has created a rift in the teachers’ union.

The differences, which had surfaced at the state meeting of the union here on Sunday, seems to have widened further with a section supporting the continuation of the present HRAS president Balbir Thakur.

The differences in the teachers’ union had surfaced when a section of the members had opposed the decision of continuation of Thakur on the post after his retirement, saying this move was against the constitution of the HRAS.

On the other hand, Balbir Thakur and his supporters have been stressing that though he had retired from the service in September last, was important to give him extension to complete the agenda initiated by the union and to honour the outgoing president, whose term was due till July, 2010.

When the motion to continue Thakur as the union president was being carried, union leaders from two districts, Shimla and Sirmour, had protested and about 20 executive members had tendered their resignations at the meeting.

Members opposing Thakur’s continuation on the post of president opined that there was no provision in the union’s constitution to give extension to the president after his retirement and to honour him, the constitution had provision to include him in the executive committee (EC) without any voting right or he could be made patron-in-chief of the HRAS.

Rajinder Verma, who had tendered his resignation on the issue from the post of senior vice-president of the steering committee, while talking to The Tribune said, “It is unconstitutional to give extension to Thakur after his retirement and senior vice-president PC Kapoor should have been nominated as the new president till elections.”

“Talks of giving him extension to complete the ongoing agenda of the union is also unwanted since the HRAS has not been able to hold a single fruitful meeting with the government on teachers’ issue during his tenure and their claim of having support of eight districts is also erroneous since they had not asked him to continue,” he added.

Shimla, January 19
While the general impression is that the Centre is serious about price rise and the Prime Minister is personally monitoring the situation, information obtained under the Right to Information Act (RTI) brings out a different picture.

“The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has not issued any directions to state governments to control rising prices,” this has been stated in response to queries raised by RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya. Regarding his query pertaining to the directions issued to different central ministries in this regard, the reply was “no such record is available with the office.”

Besides, copies of directions issued by the PMO, Bhattacharya had also asked for copies of response given by various state governments and central ministries. The reply given by deputy secretary and central public information officer of PMO, Sanjukta Ray, was that “since the prime minister’s office has not issued any directions the question of responses does not arise”. He has further stated that the department of consumer affairs and food and public distribution were taking action in the matter. The central ministries were aware of the need to control prices and the government had various mechanisms to review price situation and take measures to manage price rise.

The information furnished by the PMO, points out Bhattacharya, makes it evident that all measures to contain price rise and the talk of personal monitoring of the situation by leaders of various hues of the ruling combine in media are only for public consumption. No concrete steps are being taken on ground which was quite shocking.

He said strong action on the apart of PMO was the need of hour as prices had registered an unprecedented increase over the past one year and still rising. The normal “government mechanism”, various ministries and state governments have not been able to control the price line and, more importantly, the union minister Sharad Pawar had miserably failed on this front.

Shimla, January 19
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today urged the Centre to extend the industrial package granted in 2003 to the state till 2020.

He met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at New Delhi in this regard and impressed upon him that curtailment of industrial package to March, 2010, had caused a setback to the process of industrialisation in the state.

He said the Vidhan Sabha had already passed a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to extend the industrial package up to 2020

Dhumal also urged the Centre to allocate 12 per cent free power to the state from the BBMB projects instead of ad-hoc allocations.

He requested the Prime Minister to direct the ministry to review its decision and file a supplementary affidavit in this regard.

The Chief Minister also urged to direct the Railway Ministry to start the construction work on Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri railway line as per decision taken on August 8, 2007. The decision of the ministry on the subject was at variance with decision of the PMO as per which Himachal Pradesh would contribute 25 per cent of the construction cost and balance of funding would be met by Railways Ministry. The cost overrun would also be taken care by it.

Dhumal requested the Prime Minister to provide additional special plan assistance to the state. He said the Planning Commission, during discussions of state annual plan 2009-10, had agreed to provide additional special plan assistance (SPA) after passing of regular Union budget 2009-10 but subsequently the Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, had conveyed that an advance SPA of Rs 373.80 crore could be provided. He urged him to take a positive action in this regard.

He also urged the Cetnre to sanction additional quota of rice and sugar for general category masses in the state and stressed that purchasing power of the common citizen had been adversely affected due to successive failure of the crops and severe drought.

Meanwhile, the PM assured that construction work on Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri railway line would be started in accordance with the decision taken at the PMO. He also assured the Chief Minister that he would refer all issues raised by him to the ministries concerned for favourable action in this regard.

Solan, January 19
Police officials have expressed resentment against change in uniform colour from khakhi to navy blue and officials have decided to write to the director-general to re-consider this decision.

While asserting that khakhi represented respect and it was liked by the police force the officials pointed out that no change was required to be made.

The police officials voiced concern about the prospective colour change during the meeting of their Joint Consultative Committee of the south range where SPs from Kinnaur, Shimla, Sirmour, Baddi and Solan participated. The officials also stressed since the requisite blue colour was not available easily, the change should be re-considered as it failed to solve any practical purpose.

Headed by DIG Ashok Sharma, various other issues came up for discussion. The most significant issue, however, revolved around posting of adequate staff in the police stations and police posts as the short staff led to overburdening of the existing policemen.

They demanded relaxation in the eight-hour duty and demanded filling of vacant posts in the police posts and police stations.

Working in hostile conditions and lacking basic facilities the officials also demanded grant of Rs 200 as cell phone allowance to SHOs and ASIs so as to facilitate them. Demand was also raised to enhance the ration money from the paltry Rs 100 to Rs 500 as it failed to solve any purpose. The officials also stressed the need to make available new vehicles in the districts and auction old wornout vehicles.

The meeting was attended by SP, Baddi, Chander Shekhar Pandit; SP, Kinnaur, Yashvir Pathania; SP, Shimla, RM Sharma; SP, Solan, Prem Thakur; and SP, Sirmour, PD Prasad, among others.

Shimla, January 19
Education Minister ID Dhiman and Horticulture Minister Narinder Bragta have taken exception to the statement of PCC chief Kaul Singh that the UPA government had extended financial assistance to the tune of over Rs 25,000 crore to the state and alleged that he was making such false claims in view of the Congress organisational polls.

In a joint statement here today, they said the Congress president was trying to establish his supremacy in the party by indulging in such gimmicks but it was not going to cut much ice with the people who knew the real picture.

They urged Kaul Singh to give details of the funds provided by the UPA government which had, in fact, deprived the state of its legitimate rights.

It curtailed the industrial package given to the state by the NDA regime. The claim that the state was surviving only on central assistance was ridiculous and the ministers asked Kaul Singh if he did not consider Himachal a part of India.

In contrast, the NDA regime doled out liberal financial assistance to the state under various schemes. They also rebutted the allegation that areas represented by Congress MLAs were being discriminated against.

The Centre had curtailed the supply of rice under the public distribution system (PDS)despite that the government was continuing with the subsidised ration to every section of the society on which a subsidy of Rs 225 crore was being given.

Shimla, January 19
With literacy rate increasing at a fast pace, Himachal Pradesh is tipped to surpass Kerala to gain the top position in literacy in the country by 2011.

According to the 2001 census, Himachal Pradesh had registered a literacy rate of 77 per cent, which showed enormous growth and presently is at 84 per cent, an increase of 7 per cent, Pradeep Chauhan, economic adviser, State Economics and Statistics department, said today.

If the state continues with its present growth, it would topple Kerala to bag the first position in the country, Chauhan said.

Kerala had a literacy rate of 91 per cent according to 2001 census in comparison to 90 per cent in 1991, an increase of mere one per cent, he said.

The growth in literacy rate in Himachal Pradesh was fast even in the last decade when it rose from 64 per cent in 1991 to 77 per cent in 2001, the state economic adviser said.

He attributed the fast growth of literacy in the state to the strong infrastructure in primary schools.

There are 10,613 primary schools in the state against a population of 70 lakh, Chauhan said, adding that the rate of students taking admission in higher education in the state was 20 per cent as compared to 14 per cent at the national level.

The ratio of primary schools is 1.74 per one lakh population compared to 0.7 at the national level, he added.

The hill state also has a high percentage of student attendance in schools with 90 per cent, according to the latest annual status of education report, he said. — PTI

Bilaspur, January 19
As 63 posts of constable, including eight women constable, are to be filled from the district for the sixth India Reserve Battalion and other Battalions, candidates must apply in the office of the Superintendent of Police here and get themselves registered with the concerned Employment Exchange till February 28.

SP Kuldip Sharma said here today that candidates must be between the age of 18 to 23 years on January 15, 2010, while there was two years relaxation in case of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class candidates. Home Guards of all categories between the age of 18 and 20 years can also apply, he added.

Length of men candidates should be 5 feet 6 inches and women candidates 5 feet 4 inches with exemption of two inches in case of SC/ST candidates.

Applicants must be Himachali and applications along with IPO or bank draft worth Rs 100 for general categories and Rs 25 for SC/ST/OBC, IRDP, wards of ex-servicemen and freedom fighters, should be send to the Managing Director, Himachal Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation, Khalini, Shimla-2.

Mandi, January 19
The state CPM asserted that the vision of senior CPM leader and former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu had never been “more relevant for Himachal Pradesh as it has become in today’s context” as the Centre had been treating the state like “bonded labour”, brushing its legitimate rights in BBMB projects, shares and compensation for forests and ignoring the expansion of railways.

Talking to The Tribune on Monday after taking part in the condolence meeting held here on Basu’s death, state CPM president Rakesh Singha said, “Basu was more relevant to Himachal Pradesh than any other state as he championed the Centre-state relations and fought for more power and rights of states.”

Singha said Basu fought for more power and shares to states from the Centre and held conclaves of chief ministers of the Opposition in 1982 and onwards, voicing the federal powers to the states.

Singha cited examples of how the Centre had ignored Himchal. “The state’s quota of foodgrain has been cut from 2.55 lakh metric tonnes to 1.63 lakh metric tonnes in 2009. The BBMB projects--- Bhakra, Beas and Pong Dam---submerged one lakh hectares of agricultural land in the state and in return we are getting 2.15 per cent share from Bhakhra and paltry 15 mw of electricity from Beas project.

Worse, land oustees of the BBMB projects, who were assured land in Rajasthan and Haryana, are left refugees, Singha added.

“Instead of giving 7.19 per cent share according to the Punjab Reorganisation Act, the Centre filed an affidavit in the apex court that has pushed Himachal into a hopeless situation,” he said.

He said the Centre ignored Himachal as it never bothered to expand the railways, the cheapest mode of transport. Himachal is paying through the nose for transportation of all goods as the transport cost has increased by 9 per cent, he added.

The Centre cut forest revenue by nationalisation of forests in 1980s. But it has yet to compensate Himachal for this loss to the tune of Rs 1,000 per annum, he added.

He cited sharing of vision of Dr YS Parmar and Basu on riparian rights over water resources in the country.

“Himachal remains industrially backward and has been ignored in terms of compensation for protecting natural beauty and forests,” Singha said.

BILASPUR: State units of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the CPI (Marxist) condoled the death of Jyoti Basu. Party men said his demise had left a void in the Communist movement of the country which could never be filled again.

CPI state assistant secretary Pravesh Chandel said here on Tuesday that the joint condolence meeting of units of both the parties, presided by Shyam Lal Thakur, expressed deep sense of shock over Basu’s sad demise and observed two minutes silence in memory of the departed soul.

The condolence resolution had special mention of his sacrifice when he honoured the verdict of the party to reject the post of Prime Minister and still tirelessly worked for the party.

Shimla, January 19
The forest department organsied a one-day workshop for Range Officers regarding estimation of simian population here today.

Chief Conservator, Wildlife, Sanjiva Pandey, said estimation work of the monkeys would continue throughout the year and the preliminary survey regarding the number of the monkeys would be carried out in January and February.

He said educational institutions, research scholars and various non-government organisations would be involved in the preliminary survey. Random field survey would be conducted in February and March and a detailed estimation would be carried out from June to December, he added.

Under the strategy being worked out to tackle the menace of monkeys, staff at the ground level, representatives of the NGOs and members of the local community would be imparted training at the beat-level.

In order to contain the monkey population , the sterilisation programmes were being carried out in centres set up at Tuti Kandi in Shimla, Sastar in Hamirpur and Gopalpur in Kangra. One more such centre would also be set up in Una district soon.