Shimla, April 22
With the police tracking him down in his hideout at Mamlik village, Nityananda was today whisked away to Bangalore on a transit remand to take him back to his home state, where he is facing serious charges.

It was late last night that the police obtained transit remand till April 24 after producing him before a magistrate. He was taken by road to Chandigarh at about 9 pm from where he was put on a Mumbai flight, from where he was to be taken to Bangalore.

The swami remained on “maun vrat” during his detention last night and did not reply to police queries as he kept chanting mantras. “Since there is no case registered against him here in Himachal, he has been taken away. However, we are trying to find out as to who gave him shelter here,” said ID Bhandari, ADGP (CID).

What is surprising is the fact that the swami reportedly made a trip to Kullu-Manali for two days without anybody noticing his presence in the hill state. “It was on April 8 that all five of them left Mamlik and returned on April 11 after making a trip to Kullu-Manali,” said Jagdish.

However, what is intriguing is the fact that even the caretaker of the house, where the swami remained holed up since March 27, does not know who is the real owner of the house. “The house belonged to one Satinder Singh but in December 2009 it was bought by one Vivek Dogra of Shimla for a sum of over Rs 15 lakh,” said Bhagat Ram, patwari of Mamlik.

The caretaker, Jagdish, claimed that he opened the house for the sadhus on the directions of Mahantu, the manager of the owner. “I have not received my monthly salary of Rs 3,000 since December and am not even aware as to who is the owner of the house,” he said.

He added that he had met the previous owner Satinder Singh who used to come here occasionally with his wife before he sold it off in December last.

Even though the Himachal police has nothing to do with the cases faced by the swami, they are keen to know as to who had connections with Nityananda and facilitated his stay here by providing him with a perfect hideout. 

Shimla, April 22
The government will be purchasing plastic waste from the public at the rate of Rs 3 per kg through municipal and urban local bodies to save the environment from the ill-effects of plastic waste.

Announcing this at the state-level function of Earth Day and launching ceremony of weeklong second phase of “Plastic Hatao- Paryavaran Bachao” campaign here today, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said Himachal was the first state in Asia to take such a step.

He announced institution of “Green Journalism Award” for reporting and coverage on environment-related activities taking place in the state. “The Public Works Department (PWD) has successfully experimented the use of plastic waste in road construction which is free from maintenance and is long lasting,” he remarked.

He said plastic rate of Rs 3 per kg would be paid to people while the local gram panchayats and other urban local bodies would also be given Re 1 per kg as handling charges for collection of the waste and handing over the same to local PWD authorities.

Dhumal appealed to the people to lend cooperation in making Himachal the first carbon-neutral state in the country by observing zero tolerance for anti-environment activities.

He said the government had initiated awards down to the gram panchayat level for achieving open defecation-free targets. Similarly, it had also been decided to award gram panchayats and other local urban bodies contributing significantly towards the cause of environment and preserving ecology in their respective areas.

He said the government would also be setting up waste paper recycling units in every district headquarters to get official waste paper recycled and manufacture handmade file covers and other stationary for use in the offices.

“Hotels and resorts would be advised to adopt eco-friendly infrastructural facilities to cater to the requirements of their guests and rating of all such hotels would be carried by the authorities concerned,” he said.

Dhumal also appealed to the people to extend their support in increasing green cover and carry massive plantations by replacing old and dying trees with new and fast-growing species.

He said the first phase under “Plastic Hatao-Paryavaran Bachao” campaign launched on December 21 from Dharamsala had been a grand success and 140 tonnes of plastic waste had been collected.

Shimla, April 22
Daring the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) to initiate legal action against the state party president Kaul Singh, the Congress today further stepped up its attack by alleging that the sports body had been virtually reduced to a frontal organisation of the BJP in the state.

Reacting to the threat of the HPCA to take legal action, general secretary and spokesperson of the party Kuldeep Rathore said here today that any such move would at least help bring the functioning of the association under judicial scrutiny. The murky happenings in the administration of cricket had brought out the ugly face of the IPL, which had earned the tag of ‘Indian Paisa League’, and the nexus between the IPL and the HPCA was well established. It had been promoting commercial and political interests more than the sport.

He wanted to know how many times the constitution of the association has been changed and for what purpose and how many top Ranji players the state had produced were its members? Those at the helm of affairs had been tampering with the constitution to suit their vested interests. He cited instance of T20 tournament with cash rewards organised across the state by the association during the Lok Sabha election to woo youth as its president Anurag Thakur was a candidate from the Hamirpur constituency. The Congress had also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India.

The BJP was drawing a parallel with the Commonwealth Games to justify government expenditure on IPL matches which was patently wrong as the latter was a crass commercial venture designed to earn profits and not any international even involving participation of national teams.

Solan, April 22
Ten months after a fire engulfed an air conditioning unit at Khera, near Nalagarh, where nine lives were lost, the police is finalising cancellation report in the case registered against the management for negligence and endangering human life.

It is worth mentioning that eight workers and an employee of the Fire Department had lost their lives in the fire which had erupted at Khera-based Adventec Coils Private Limited on June 3, 2009.

While the magisterial inquiry, which was conducted by the Solan ADC after directions of the Chief Minister, had highlighted the lack of fire hydrants and fire-fighting equipment as a major flaw, these laxities had also been pointed out by the Fire Department in subsequent inquiries. The lack of fire-fighting equipment had hampered fire fighting and officials opined that some lives could have been saved if adequate equipment had been installed at the unit.

It was therefore interesting to note that the Police Department had failed to note these laxities and it was now finalising a cancellation report. The development had come as a major setback to the families of eight employees and a fire official who had lost their lives in the incident. While such teams could immediately help contain fire incidents, preliminary steps towards fire fighting could be achieved before the arrival of fire tenders.

The report had also pointed out that regular fire-certification from the Fire Department could help assess the gap between the requirement and facilities available and also ensure that the system was in working order. While these were clearly missing, presence of NOC could not be construed as fire-fighting equipment being full proof in the unit.

Interestingly, Baddi SP CS Pandit, when quizzed, said investigation had failed to find any evidence of negligence against the unit management. The cancellation report had been prepared on the basis of the report of the forensic science laboratory, which had cited short circuit as the cause of fire. Moreover, the unit had an NOC from the Fire Department which meant its equipment was adequate.

He, however, added that if the basis were not justified the Law Department could object to the report.

A report had later pointed out that 30 per cent industrial units, located in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh area lacked fire preparedness and had been declared unsafe, while another 5 per cent were found to be highly vulnerable as they lacked even the basic fire-safety measures.

Shimla, April 22
Encouraged by the results of the trial of e-ticketing scheme, the loss-incurring state road transport corporation has decided to introduce Electronic Bus Ticketing Machines (EBTM) on its bus routes to help increase revenue and bring down operational expenditure.

The corporation, which has accumulated a loss of Rs 540 crore, had introduced the EBTMs at the main bus stand in New Delhi in the year 2006 and subsequently at Chandigarh and Solan. The system of issuing printed tickets of various denominations was stopped completely at these stations. On analysis, it was found that issue of passenger tickets through EBTMs was more beneficial for both conductors and the corporation.

It has been worked out that complete switchover to e-ticketing will help save over Rs 40 lakh which the corporation spends on printing of tickets annually.

A positive financial impact of the trial scheme was observed with the revenue going up by over 5 per cent. Besides, it also saved a lot of trouble to conductors as all required information was stored in EBTM stores the entire data of which could be downloaded anytime. The revenue is also expected to go up by over Rs 20 crore as there is no scope left for leakage.

Further, the corporation will be in a position to calculate the exact liability on account of free and concessional travel facility being provided to 21 categories, including freedom fighters, MLAs, physically challenged and mediapersons. At present, a figure of Rs 43.17 crore has been worked out on the basis of the assumption.

The corporation is procuring 1,667 EBTMs for switchover to e-ticketing which will be completed by the next month. Training is being provided to staff for the purpose. There are some other administrative advantages too. For instance, personal ledgers of each conductor will be maintained automatically and will be possible to effectively monitor the performance of each conductor. Only one ticket is be issued to one person and there is not need to punch the stages of tickets which will reduce the workload of conductors.

The machines will prove to be of great help in case of services operated with just a driver-cum-conductor. Unlike the printed manual ticket system, all information will be available to passengers like names of the depot, station and fare details. Passengers can also produce the ticket as a proof for documentary support.

Kangra, April 22
The director general of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Rajeev Trakru today held a surprise inspection of the NIFT centre at Chaib following termination of an associate professor on immoral grounds.

He said it was an unfortunate act of immorality and such relations between a teacher and a student was ‘unacceptable’ at any cost. He said the concerned teacher was terminated and other steps in this connection were being taken.

Trakru said he interacted with students and conveyed them the seriousness of the issue and warned them to desist from such activities, which would spoil both their career and life.

He said NIFT here would set up a Centre for Apparel and Textile Studies (CATS) which would offer research-oriented programmes, PhD and faculty training programmes in fashion designing. He said CATS would be a major attraction here for students because this would be the first NIFT in the country to offer it. He said CATS would start here in August 2011 and such additional activities would improve the equity of the NIFT.

He said 175 students from the state had figured in the merit list of the national NIFT competition.

Mandi, April 22
Farmers in snowbound Mayar valley in Lahaul-Spiti district rued that they had been facing shortage of seeds of pea in the two panchayats of Tingret and Chimret as it remains cut off from Udaipur subdivision and Keylong, district headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti.

They said the 18-km-long road from Udaipur to Mayar valley remained unrestored since winter. There are two glacier points on the road but the PWD has yet to start its clearing work even as the Rohtang Pass has been opened, they rued.

Gopal Singh, a farmer from Mayar valley, said they had sent representation to the Lahaul-Spiti DC to restore the Mayar road and ensure supply of seeds to the farmers of both panchayats. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears so far, he added.

Dorje and Angmo, farmers from Chimret, rued that sowing of peas had been completed in the rest of Lahaul valley. But farmers in Mayar valley have no seeds, which has become a cause of worry, they complained.

The farmers said they need over 30 bags of pea seeds in the valley for this season. The pea is the main cash crop in the valley and it along with potato seeds is the only source of livelihood for farmers, they said.

The demand for peas in the valley has touched 2,700 quintals this season. In most areas sowing of peas is complete, farmers said.

PWD executive engineer at Udaipur DS Yadav was out of station when his office was contacted, but staff informed that they just had one machine to work.

District agricultural officer Rajinder Verma said the department had procured 22 bags of pea seeds stocked at Udaipur for Mayar valley, but it could not be delivered to farmers because the Mayar road was blocked. “Still farmers have two weeks time for sowing in Mayar valley,” he added.

Lahaul-Spiti DC Ritesh Chauhan said the PWD was trying to restore all roads that were blocked in winter due to snow in the valley.

“We will reopen the Mayar road soon and have already opened the Rohtang Pass in a record time this year,” he claimed.

Dharamsala, April 22
The Department of Cooperative Societies has unearthed a scam at the Tiara agriculture society in which members, employees of the society and certain officials of the cooperative society have allegedly swindled funds of poor farmers.

According to sources, the Tiara agriculture society has 1,200 members who have deposited Rs 6 crore with the institution. As per rules, loans of more than Rs 50,000 cannot be given to a member of the society. The loans are generally given to the members for buying seeds, fertilisers or other agriculture purposes.

However, the authorities controlling the society have allegedly given loan extending up to Rs 35 lakh for constructing houses and buying cars to vested interests.

As per rules, the employees of the cooperative society cannot take loans from the society under which they are working. However, in the present case even the employees of the Tiara cooperative society have allegedly taken loans. To cover the discrepancies the loans were also extended to the officials of the Department of Cooperatives.

Out of total Rs 6 crore deposits available with the agriculture society, loans worth Rs 4.5 crore have been extended. Inquiry by senior officials of the Department of Cooperative Societies has now revealed that out the extended loans Rs 3 crore were likely to be converted into bad debts, thus risking the investments of small farmers who had invested in the institution.

Assistant registrar of the cooperative societies SK Rangara said certain discrepancies in the society accounts had been brought to the fore in an inspection conducted by the district audit officer. “The report has reached my office. However, I am going through the contents. Action will be taken against officials found responsible for squandering the society funds,” he added.

The agriculture cooperative societies of Kangra district are part of Kangra Central Cooperative Bank. The funds of the societies are deposited with the said bank. Even the bank cannot extend loan of more than Rs 40 lakh without the consent of Nabard. However, it is strange that a simple agriculture society has extended loans up to Rs 35 lakh to a few influential persons. In the recent past a similar scam was noticed in the agriculture society of Nagrota.

Such scams might shake the faith of small investors in agriculture cooperative societies, which are otherwise considered as better institutions than their counterparts operating in other parts of the country.

Hamirpur, April 22
The district panchayat officer (DPO) here has suspended Bafadi gram panchayat president Duni Chand for alleged misappropriation of lakhs of development funds.

The misdemeanour of the panchayat president was highlighted in these columns sometime back as he had allegedly siphoned off lakhs of rupees in 19 development works, on the basis of information procured through the RTI Act and the police had already registered a criminal case against him.

The inquiry conducted by the Toani Devi BDO for 19 development works carried by the Bafadi panchayat president had discovered irregularities and it had also come to light that some of these works were not carried at all.

Interestingly, all these works were carried under the supervision of officials of the Toani Devi block who had been shown making on the spot inspection of works from time to time.

While exaggerated payments had allegedly been made it was also revealed that the payments were also made in the name of a minor through muster roll, who actually was attending classes in a school during that period and shown use of building material without deploying labour, claiming payment for his own JCB without doing any work etc.

On the basis of RTI information it was found that a road for which Rs 1 lakh was drawn by Duni Chand, evaluation report had found zero work and no work was undertaken for link road to Panahar village despite showing an expenditure of Rs 26,700.

DPO Satish Sharma said, “Duni Chand has been suspend from the post so that he does not temper with any record or influence the inquiry in any manner and now inquiry against him will be conducted by the SDM.”

Hamirpur, April 22
The district-level folk dance competition, organised by the District Language and Culture Department during the Jahu Nalwar festival, concluded here today.

Zila parishad chairperson Malika Dhiman was the chief guest for the function.

Speaking on the occasion, she stressed the need for preserving the state’s cultural and folk traditions.

She said such functions played an important role in depicting the culture of the state and apprised the young generation about the rich heritage.

Dhiman also urged the youth to help in preserving the culture which was facing a threat. She also gave away prizes to the winners of the dance competition.

Bilaspur, April 22
A multi-media laboratory has been functioning here at Government Boys Senior Secondary School at Raura sector and is giving job-oriented vocational IT training to students and common citizens alike. In fact, more than 100 students have taken training in this centre during the past one year. This was stated by Yash Pal Sharma, principal of the school, after felicitating meritorious student Vishwa Mohan who stood first in the state in the class XII (science) examination.

Sharma said since only 25 schools in the state had the training facility, this centre would also provide training to girl students from this session. The training would enable a student to get direct admission in second year at polytechnic institutions, he added.

The principal took pride in the fact that his student Hari Om Sharma had been getting first position in the state in the NCC for the past two years.

He said the school had been sanctioned a separate building of science block while Rs 36 lakh examination hall was under construction.