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Power share: States stick to known stands
ABVP calls off 27-month strike
Ansari returns to Delhi
Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari being seen off by CM Prem Kumar Dhumal at Annandale helipad in Shimla on Wednesday.
— A Tribune photograph |
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10 more ‘van thanas’ to come up
Agri varsity’s pension scheme in trouble
‘BJP, Congress hand in glove with land mafia’
Uhal project workers resume work
Gaffes galore in latest govt phone directory
6 new industrial proposals cleared
Crime rise in industrial belts
Baddi unit bags award for social responsibility
Nalagarh industrial area rues lack of power parity
Talks fail, HRTC staff to stage dharna tomorrow
One charred to death
15 deodar sleepers seized
Patwari held for graft
Five hurt at Chamera dam
Cop killed
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Power share: States stick to known stands
Shimla, May 19 Himachal reiterated that it was entitled to 7.19 per cent share in the BBMB projects under the Act against which it was being given only an ad hoc share of 2.5 per cent at present. It also sought 12 per cent free power as royalty in these projects on the pattern of the projects commissioned after September, 1990. The arrears on account of these two claims came to over Rs 2200 crore in 1996 when the state filed a petition in the apex court. Punjab and Haryana, the states which would be affected the most if the issue is decided in favour of Himachal, maintained that the matter attained finality and there was no need for reopening the settled issues. Rajasthan on the other hand did not have any objection to Himachal getting 7.19 per cent share in power as it will not be affected, unlike Punjab and Haryana. However, it opposed the grant of 12 per cent free power to the state as royalty. Union power secretary P Uma Shankar presided over the meeting which was attended by chief secretary Asha Swaroop and principal secretary, power, Deepak Sanan from Himachal, joint secretary, hydro and energy secretary from the union ministry of power, officers of the BBMB, principal secretary (power), Punjab and Haryana, and other officers. Sources said it was a preliminary meeting and the further progress in the matter hanging fire for the past over four decades would be made only after the Centre came out with a proposal. Since the Supreme Court had provided three months’ time to the Centre, the next meeting will be held soon.
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ABVP calls off 27-month strike
Shimla, May 19 ABVP campus chief Narender Thakur today said that a delegation had met Chief Minister PK Dhumal and called off the strike after the authorities agreed to accept 28 of the 32 demands. He said that only certain demands that would have to be taken up at the government level, including restoring autonomy of the university, enhancing budgetary provision to HPU and identifying land for expansion of the campus, would be looked into later. Thakur said all these issues would be taken up during the assembly’s monsoon session and a high-level committee comprising secretary-level officers had been constituted to examine the demands. “In case our demands are not met, we will re-launch the agitation,” Thakur warned. |
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Ansari returns to Delhi
Shimla, May 19 He was given a warm send-off at Annandale helipad. Governor Urmila Singh, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, Health Minister Rajiv Bindal, Additional Chief Secretary Avay Shukla, Director General of Police D.S.Manhas and other senior officers of the Centre and the state.
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10 more ‘van thanas’ to come up
Shimla, May 19 At present, eight “van thanas” were functional in the state out of which Habbanm Mohal, Balu and Chhaila have been in operation for the past over one year. In all, 50 cases of illicit felling, timber smuggling, illegal saw mills and unauthorised extraction of sand and stone were detected by these thanas. Timber worth over Rs 5 lakh was seized in 31 recoveries and four illegal saw mills were unearthed along with timber worth over Rs 2 lakh. Besides, five cases of smuggling were also detected. Three more thanas were subsequently set up at Bassi in Bilaspur, Tikker in Rohru and Nagrota Suriyan in Kangra. The 10 new thanas are proposed to be set up at Theog in Shimla, Deokhand in Mandi, Puruwala in Sirmour, Naggar and Jhibbi in Kullu, Kalel in Chamba, Nankheri in Shimla, Bhagarwan in Kangra, Talhera in Una and Ropa in the Great Himalayan National Park. Each “van thana” is headed by a block officer supported by five-six forest guards and three-four forest workers. Instead of a solitary guard patrolling a particular beat, thana staff operates in a bigger area and teams are equipped with vehicles, weapons, wireless communication facility and mobile phones. The department already has flying squads but these have not proved very effective. “Van thanas” enable the department to concentrate on select areas where the timber mafia is more active. With the road network extending to every nook and corner of the state, timber smuggling has become easier and economically far more attractive. Learning from
police stations
The state government has also decided to frame rules to ensure the functioning of “van thanas” on the pattern of police stations. Forest guards will no longer be able to get away by just issuing damage reports for offences. The forest department plans to frame rules to deal with forest offences in a time-bound manner so that action was taken in every case within stipulated period like FIRs registered in police stations. |
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Agri varsity’s pension scheme in trouble
Dharamsala, May 19 In a recent communication to the government, the university authorities informed that the pension fund was created in 1997. At that time there were 100 pensioners and number of contributors to the fund was 2,250. The annual pension bill was Rs 1 crore and contribution from employees was Rs 1.39 crore. However, in December 2009, the number of pensioners increased to 550 but the number of contributors reduced to 1,700. The annual pension bill in 2009 was Rs 13.2 crore while contribution from employees was Rs 4.24 crore. The university authorities have expressed apprehension that at this rate the pension fund of the university would exhaust in two-three years. They demanded corpus fund of Rs 100 crore from the state government to sustain the scheme. At University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, also there are 450 pensioners with a monthly liability of Rs 45 lakh. The pension and gratuity corpus of the university has just Rs 21 crore. The university authorities have informed the government that the gap between receipt and payment to pension funds is widening and it can sustain only with financial assistance from the state government. However, the state government has advised the universities to submit proposals to get their pension funds managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory Authority of Government of India. However, the sources said the pension regulatory authority of the central government came into being in 2003. The new employees who joined service after 2003 could avail benefit of the service. However, the old employees who were on the verge of retirement cannot get pension from the fund as they had not made any contribution towards it. To give them pension the state government would have to support the university. The sources said in the case of KCB the university was also adopting government pattern to give pensions to their employees. The pensioners were granted DA and enhancement in emoluments as per the new pay scales declared by the successive government. There was no cap on upper limit of pension that could be given to the employees. This was increasing pension liability. However, contribution to pension schemes was going down as no new recruitments were being made to cut financial liability.
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‘BJP, Congress hand in glove with land mafia’
Mandi, May 19 The HBM demanded white paper and probe into all deals or MoUs signed with each private university or company as public information officers have denied them information under the Right to Information Act. HBM president Subhash Sharma and in-charge of political affairs KD Dharmani, a former BJP MLA from Ghumarwin, made these allegations against Chief Minister PK Dhumal and Congress leaders Kaul Singh Thakur and leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes at a press conference here. “Dhumal and Stokes owe explanation to people of the state on all these issues as to why these were not raised in the House,” Dharmani charged. Sharma alleged that the state BJP had written a letter to the then Chief Election Commissioner of India in October, 2008, opposing signing of MoUs with private companies on allotment of eight power projects. “The BJP made it a big issue during the last Assembly election time, but when it came to power in 2008 it buried it and signed the MoUs not even changing a coma in them,” he charged. The HBM leaders further said they were playing with the future of younger generation as Himachal had about 3 lakh sanctioned jobs, but these were being given on contract. “The companies are getting freebies like subsidised electricity, tax holidays, but people of the state are getting electricity on commercial rates and the TCP Act is being applied against them,” the morcha charged. On the other hand, the vast water resources, including hydropower projects, are being mortgaged into the hands of profit making outside companies, who are making big money in the bargain. The leaders claimed that there were about 2,500 projects out of which not more than 50 are owned by Himachalis. Dharmani said the Congress did not raise these issues, including blatant violations of Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act, during the last Vidhan Sabha session. But the Congress leaders are raising hue and cry just to save its face in the public, he added. Both the BJP and the Congress rubbished the morcha charges and dubbed the HBM as an organisation of “disgruntled elements and need not be taken seriously”. |
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Uhal project workers resume work
Mandi, May 19 The contractor agreed to pay wages due to the workers and also to pay the workers before the 10th of each month. The company assured that their managing director would come to the site and give his formal approval to the agreement. The company also assured that it would pay off arrears in June or July. CITU spokesperson Kushal Bhardwaj said over 200 workers called off the strike and resumed work after the company agreed to pay wages for April and arrears. —
TNS |
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Gaffes galore in latest govt phone directory
Shimla, May 19 Even more interesting is that Justice Mishra’s name was printed at number two position in the government directory published in the year 2008. While authorities responsible for the task have rightly mentioned the name of Chief Justice Kurian Joseph, who took over in February, the name of Justice Mishra — who has been here for almost two years — is missing. The directory mentions the name of Justice VK Sharma, who was elevated as a High Court judge from post of Registrar-General, against his old posting even though it has been several months since he assumed office. With easy updation being the biggest benefit of computerisation, the government it appears has hardly put this to use. Interestingly, the latest directory also includes the name of Forest Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda in the list of ministers. His resignation was accepted 10 days back by the Governor! The directory is printed by the Controller, Printing and Stationery and was distributed to media personnel only yesterday.
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6 new industrial proposals cleared
Shimla, May 19 The proposals included Rs 79.74 crore unit for manufacturing efficient machinery and equipment for drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation systems to be set up by Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, Rs 22 crore resin-based unit for manufacturing eco-friendly hollow concrete blocks for infrastructure industry by Dev Resins Private Limited and Rs 63.13 crore tourism resort-cum-health farm on the Kalka-Shimla highway. In all six units would together generate employment for 1,581 persons. Chief Minister PK
Dhumal, who presided over the meeting, said despite the withdrawal of concessions under the special industrial package the state had been attracting industrial investments from major business houses. He said during the past two years 3,156 industrial proposals involving an investment of Rs 12,585.61 crore and potential to provide employment to 1,23,052 persons had been
cleared. Dhumal expressed concern over the unscientific mining being carried out in the riverbeds and said it was emerging as a threat to the fragile environment of the state. He directed the concerned authorities to carry out surprise inspections to check unauthorised mining and deal with those involved as per the law. No mining activity be allowed up to from 200 m to 300 m from water supply schemes and bridges. Field functionaries should maintain under strict vigil with regard to mining activities taking place and to check violation of laws with firm hands. |
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Crime rise in industrial belts
Shimla, May 19 The crime figures for the first quarter of the year indicate a sharp increase in murder, hurt and rioting as compared to last year. Interestingly, most of the cases are related to districts of Solan, Una, Hamirpur and Bilaspur, Kinnaur and Chamba. Interestingly, despite private security being engaged by most industrial units and power project sites, police investigations have indicated the connivance of internal security in most crimes. “Some of the units have already sought police deployment from the government on payment basis which certainly works better and with more recruitment being done, providing security at industrial units or projects is possible,” said D.S. Manhas, Director-General Police. He said in large number of cases the private security guards had been found to be hand in glove in crimes in industrial units, which was certainly a cause of concern. “There is also an element of seasonal fluctuation to such crime, especially in case of migrant labour but then there is no denying that security in such industrial belts needs to be strengthened,” said Manhas. As compared to 28 murders last year during the first four months, this year the number has touched 43 already. Even though 40 of the 43 cases have been solved but the fact remains that most of them involve migrant labour whether they are the victim or the accused. Similarly cases of rioting have also gone up from 181 to 224, indicating an increase by 23.7 per cent. Most of the cases pertain to districts of Chamba, Kinnuar and Shimla, where the sites of hydro-power projects have emerged as major conflict areas. There is however good news with regard to dowry deaths as this year there has been none.
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Baddi unit bags award for social responsibility
Solan, May 19 Company’s director Sanjeev Sethia received the award from Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma at Delhi recently. As a commitment to uplift the cause of society, the unit spends 2 per cent of the profit after tax annually since its inception in 2004 and has maintained a corpus fund to enable it to pursue various activities for the economically disadvantaged sections. Alarmed by the global warming the management decided to contribute their bit for protecting the environment and started off with a “Go Green Initiative” wherein it planned to not only plant but also maintain 10,000 plants by 2011 with each employee lending a helping hand. “Lending support to the community in the unit’s vicinity, activities like building roads, adoption of one village for free health check-up, spreading computer literacy among children, sponsoring children achieving more than 85 per cent marks and availability of medical testing equipment are taken up,” factory manager JS Kang said.
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Nalagarh industrial area rues lack of power parity
Solan, May 19 The Nalagarh industrial area faced the worst power cuts with power being snapped every third day. The situation was compounded with power tripping along with the routine power cuts leading to losses worth crores in production in the industrial
areas. Prem Sharma, president Nalagarh Industries Association (NIA) and director marketing of Dev Bhoomi Ispat Group, said they were forced to shut four of their units and even among the three remaining ones another had to be shut due to lack of power. He said losses worth crores were being incurred daily since the last few days as three-four power tripping, which were abrupt, led to suspension of production process causing huge wastage of the material. The NIA severally resented the power cuts imposed every third day while it was once a week in the nearby Baddi and Barotiwala industrial area. They demanded parity in power distribution as it caused huge production losses at a time when it had become difficult to meet the targets. The investors also said there was no uniformity of power cuts and the Nalagarh area received a shabby treatment in power distribution. The industries lying in that area had been worst hit. This slipshod arrangement had exposed the power board’s bias towards certain areas, resented investors in Nalagarh and they said there was no logic in devising a schedule when power tripping spoiled whatever power availability was there in the Nalagarh industrial area. Though the state cried for extension of the central industrial package, this unavailability of power had made it clear that even the existing rush of industries would have to bear power cuts due to the inclement weather conditions causing loss of hydel power generation.
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Talks fail, HRTC staff to stage dharna tomorrow
Hamirpur, May 19 Addressing a joint press conference here today, transport union divisional president and secretary Ajmer Thakur and Jitender Pal, respectively, said, “The union would hold a dharna at Shimla as per prior programme. Our members have already started applying for leave and 53 have sought leave at Hamirpur alone.” While regular staff is applying for emergency casual leave, contractual staff is applying for weekly offs, Thakur said. The union has already submitted a nine-point demand charter to the HRTC management. Main demands include payment of revised pay scales to contractual and temporary employees of all categories, night allowance to temporary drivers and conductors, revision of policy of termination, recruitment of additional staff, conversion of booking agents as temporary employees in phased manner, payment of all pending allowances and carving out Himachal Roadways from present HRTC. Workers have also opposed nomination of ‘inexperienced’ politicians to the HRTC board of directors and urged the state government to restrict political interference in the functioning of HRTC, especially change of route of long route buses, which according to them is biggest cause of losses to the corporation.
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One charred to death
Shimla, May 19 According to the police the fire first broke out in the house of one Buddhi Ram and then spread to the adjoining buildings in the market. The deceased was sleeping inside the shop when he got trapped and was charred to death and all efforts to save him proved futile. An electronics shop was completely gutted while the loss due to the fire has been estimated at over Rs 10 lakh. The cause of fire is still not known as the police has started investigations in this regard.
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15 deodar sleepers seized
Mandi, May 19 According to the police, it spotted a private vehicle (HP30-2092) standing near Sohan Singh’s house, which had nine sleepers of deodar. But Sohan Singh could show any documents to the police. On searching Sohan’s house, it detected six more sleepers. But he claimed that the sleepers belonged to forest guard Bhim Singh who had kept them in his house three months ago. —
TNS
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Patwari held for graft
Dharamsala, May 19 Vigilance officials said that Mansar village resident Jugal Kishore complained that Patwari Ravi Kumar was asking for Rs 1,500 to issue revenue papers of his land. A trap was laid and the Patwari was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1,500. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered.
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Five hurt at Chamera dam
Chamba, May 19 Consequently, five workers were injured while other workers were immediately evacuated from the danger point. The injured workers included foreman Jitendra Nayak, mason Kartick Behera, and helpers Binod Kumar, Udho Kumar and Sandip Prasad were hospitalised at the project hospital but were later discharged. —
OC
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Cop killed
Hamirpur, May 19 He was taken to the regional hospital at Hamirpur in a serious condition, where he died around 10.30 pm. He was cremated today at his ancestral Baduhak village under the Nadaun police station. — TNS
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Vice-President of India M.Hamid Ansari returned to Delhi after a two-day visit to the state capital in connection with the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the National Academy of Audit and Accounts.
Chamba, May 19
