Shimla, August 8
Despite reservations by a section of the state BJP leadership, “Shubhecha” function organised by the party here today turned out to be a success. The function was held to felicitate Mohinder Pande on his appointment as the national coordinator for the frontal organisations of the party.

Party workers from within and outside the state turned out in strength to attend the function. However, the event assumed political overtones as most of leaders identified with the Dhumal camp were conspicuous by their absence. Besides national BJP general secretary JP Nadda, head of BJP Kisan Morcha Suresh Chandel, senior RSS leaders Sadashiv Dhar, Raj Kumar Bhatia and Mahesh Sharma were among those present.

Other prominent leaders who participated in the event included Rural Development Minister Jai Ram and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Chaudhary, Kangra MP Rajan Sushant, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Satpal Satti, Gobind Thakur, Praveen Sharma, Ram Lal Markandey and Khushi Ram and chairman of the State Board of School Education CL Gupta.

The function organised by the ABVP achieved significance as the student wing had been openly opposing the education policy of the Dhumal government, particularly opening of private universities, and accusing it of commercialising education.

The leaders appreciated the services rendered by Pande to the ABVP and the BJP over the years. Pande, in turn, owed his contribution to the guidance of senior leaders like Shanta Kumar and PK Dhumal and support of the party workers.

Shimla, August 8
The 1,500-MW Nathpa Jhakri project remained closed for the fourth consecutive day today even as the level of silt and discharge in the Sutlej declined substantially over the past 24 hours.

Large parts of Spiti valley remained cut off for the third day today and power could also not be restored in the valley.

The discharge came down from 2,300 cumecs to 1,800 cumecs, while the level of silt at Nathpa, the dam site, came down from 36,000 ppm (parts per million) to 16,000 ppm. It was still much in excess of the permissible limits of 4,000 ppm for operating the generating units.

The loss of generation to the tune of over 144 million units had deprived the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam of revenue amounting to about Rs 40 crore.

The project, which had been generating more power than the target till the latest shutdown, had now fallen behind. Till August 5, when generation was stopped it had produced 3,477 million units as against the target of 3,463 million units. It was now short of target by 140 million units. This was the fourth time during the current season that the project had to be shut down due to excessive silt. In all eight days of generation had been lost so far but still the total generation so far had been more than the target.

The Union Power Ministry had set a target of 6,700 million units for the year and it had allowed 11 days shut down to take care of high level of silt and another five days for flushing the reservoir.

The farmers of Spiti, which remained cut off due to landslides, were a worried lot as delay in reopening the road would spoil their pea crop.

They informed that about 250 trucks of peas were to be transported out from just few villages around Tabo and Losar.

Shimla, August 8
The Himachal Kisan Sabha has lambasted the government for its failure to keep the roads open and arrange adequate number of trucks during the current apple season as a result of which growers are incurring huge monetary losses. It has threatened to launch a stir if immediate steps are not taken to improve the condition of roads, make arrangements of trucks and prevent overcharging for transportation of produce.

Secretary of the sabha Sanjay Chauhan said the growers had been left at the mercy of market forces due to wrong policies of the government. While trucks were not available even at double the normal freight rates, the government agencies were not purchasing good quality apple and consequently growers were not getting remunerative returns. The situation could improve if state agencies like HPMC, Himfed, and AIC started procuring good quality apple for sale in open market.

The condition of roads was deplorable throughout the state and fruit growers of the Shimla region in particular were paying a heavy price for it. The Theog-Kotkhai-Rohru road through which almost 80 per cent of apple was transported was in a bad shape and it was taking more than 10 hours to cover the 70 km distance from Jubbal to Shimla against the normal time of less than three hours.

State Congress secretary Rohit Thakur alleged that the tuck operators were charging Rs 74 per box for transpirations of apple from Jubbal to Solan as against the normal freight of about Rs 30 per box.

He lamented that Chief Minister PK Dhumal came to Jubbal yesterday by helicopter if he had visited the area by road he would have taken a good notice of the conditions of the roads.

Dharamsala, August 8
The Domestic Violence Act was implemented in the country about four years ago. The stringent provisions under the Act are aimed at protecting violence against women. However, now even NGOs are feeling that the Act needs amendment.

Activists of various NGOs like Jagori, while talking to The Tribune, said these days more reports were being received, even from the rural areas, in which women were committing domestic violence.

An activist of the Jagori, Rajni, said, “We feel ashamed, but it is a fact. There are many reports in which women are resorting to domestic violence. Generally, the violence is by mother-in-law against daughter-in-law or vice versa. However, under the Domestic Violence Act only the husband can be named as accused and no case can be registered in such matters. We are of the view that every kind of domestic violence, even if it is being committed by a woman, should be included in the Act.”

The activists said despite a large number of reported cases of domestic violence very few victims have used the provisions of the Act in this part of the state.

According to data collected from the Kangra police, there were only about 20 reported cases of domestic violence in 2009. The cases of domestic violence were reported by victims to protection officers. In Kangra district the CDPOs from the Department of Social Security have been appointed as protection officers, who after receiving complaints from victims forward it to the police or directly to judicial magistrates of the respective areas.

According to the Act, domestic violence includes physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse. It also includes insults, ridicules, humiliation and economic abuse leading to deprivation of any economic and financial resources. However, all these provisions can just be used against the husband and not any other relation.

According to sources, almost all cases of domestic violence reported in Kangra district are of physical abuse. None of complainants has reported against insults or ridicules that are generally quiet rampant, especially in the rural areas. The lesser number of complaints being received under the Act are reportedly due to lesser awareness among victims regarding the provisions of the Act. 

Bilaspur, August 8
The Naina Devi Nagar Parishad yesterday removed encroachments from the government land near the bus stand market in the town, about 95 km from here.

Besides removing three kiosks, the team led by by Executive Officer KL Thakur, a posse of police force and parishad officials removed all merchandise and

other items kept for sale by other shopkeepers in front of their shops on both sides of the road in the main bazaar, thus obstructing the road. Thakur warned that no encroachments on the government land would be allowed and no obstruction of roads would be tolerated under any excuse.

He said such encroachments not only gave bad impression of the shrine town but also posed unnecessary obstruction to thousands of devotees who visit the place daily to pay obeisance to the deity in the temple. 

Hamirpur, August 8
While Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCCB) is in the process of finalising agreement with a technology company to bring all its branches under Core Banking Solution (CBS) system, one of the bidder company for carrying this work has once again emphasised the issue of turning down its bid, despite being lowest, by the bank management.

The technology company had offered to provide CBS system to the bank branches for about Rs 6 crore on the basis of similar experience in other banks. The company had contested selection of another technology company which had offered much higher cost of about Rs 15 crore.

Though the company offering lowest bid was dropped at the pre-qualification stage for not having required technology and was not considered during the evaluation stage, the company maintained that it not only had this solution but also executed similar work in Himachal State Cooperative Bank, which was the apex bank to the KCCB.

While this company had been pursuing its offer with the bank management even after rejection of offer at the initial stages, the bank now allegedly ‘‘threatened to blacklist it for raising the issue in the media’’.

The bank management was still sticking to its stand and said for the bank though cost factor was important and kept in mind, the CBS technology was also important.

Solan, August 8
With the central industrial package having expired in March, there appeared to be a few takers for the industrial plots in the state’s prime industrial area of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh.The eighth auction of plots conducted by the Himachal Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (HPSIDC) at Dhavni, near Baddi, failed to generate much hype with three plots being auctioned for a reserve price of Rs 52.5 lakh.

The corporation failed to get any hike in the bids and the plots had to be auctioned at a reserve price of Rs 3,500 per sq m after bidders failed to make any higher bidding. With the major benefit of the central excise already being over, there was a little enthusiasm among bidders to acquire plots.

However, in the past auctions, about 10 bidders had failed to deposit the mandatory 15 per cent earnest money despite lapse of the mandatory time period.

The HPSIDC and other government departments had developed 122 plots after investing Rs 58 crore on infrastructure at Dhavni in 2007. About 424 bighas had been acquired to carve out these plots. Concerted efforts have been made since then to auction 58 plots available with the HPSIDC and this was the eighth auction conducted by the corporation where three plots were auctioned on Friday.

Although the corporation was setting up a 66 KV power sub-station to provide dedicated power to investors here, it had failed to elicit much response from bidders. It was the poor infrastructure in the form of ill maintained roads and bridges that had disheartened investors.

Though the high land rates were another deterrent, it was the official wrangle of procuring permission under the Himachal Pradesh Land Reforms and Tenancy Act .

Shimla, August 8
The state has taken up the matter with the Centre for transfer of alternate forest land at Silche, near Hurling, for relocating Giu village in the Spiti valley which faces a serious threat due to soil erosion caused by a local stream.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal informed a deputation led by local MLA Ram Lal Markandey, which met him here yesterday, that the entire village could be relocated safely at the site to help preserve the traditional tribal architecture and lifestyle. Efforts were afoot to secure approval from appropriate authority at the earliest so that relocation process could be started.

“The government will extend all help to relocate Giu which is threatened due to the local stream changing course every few years and it is now passing through the centre of the village”.

The Chief Minister expressed concern over the damage caused by flash floods and said relief had been provided to the affected families by the local authorities.

He said unprecedented rains had also affected Rong Tong and Lingti hydroelectric projects and efforts were being made to clear the debris accumulated at intake due to the floods. Electricity and drinking water supplies had already been restored and roads were being maintained to ensure smooth plying of vehicular traffic to and fro valley.