Shimla, September 5
Undeterred by the verdict of the High Court rejecting his plea for transfer of the audio CD case to the CBI, Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh said today that he would not be cowed down by the “political vendetta” being inflicted on him by Chief Minister PK Dhumal and continue to fight against rampant corruption in the state.

Terming the CD case as a conspiracy against him by Dhumal and former Congress minister Vijay Singh Mankotia, he said the only way to ascertain whether or not a leader was corrupt was to have a look at the assets accumulated by him and his family members after entering politics.

“I first became an MP in 1962 and during 48 years of my political career, I could only buy one flat as a member of housing society in Delhi,” he said.

Dhumal should also make public the details of assets acquired by him and his family members after joining politics. This would be enough for the people to make out who was corrupt, he added.

Lack of governance was more than visible in the slipshod manner in which the government handled the bumper apple crop. Roads were blocked by landslides and trucks and packaging material was not available, he said.

The government blamed heavy showers for its own lapses. Rains and landslides were a normal phenomenon during monsoon. However, the state should have made proper arrangements for dealing with it, he added.

Having failed to deliver on the development front, Dhumal was indulging in political vendetta as evident from the CD case, which was a deep-rooted conspiracy.

The alleged conversations pertained to 1989 when CDs had not even been invented. Further, the Vigilance Department failed to supply vital information to the central forensic laboratory regarding origin of the CD and the device on which the sample voice was recorded.

However, in case of the CDs containing conversations between Dhumal and the then Additional Director General of Vigilance, DS Manhas, the government adopted an entirely different approach and no investigation was carried out. It was a blatant case of “double standards” and an indication that the government could go to any extent to misuse the state machinery to crush political opponents, Virbhadra said.

Shimla, September 5
Governor Urmila Singh presented State Award-2010 to 13 teachers from different educational institutions at a function held at Raj Bhawan to mark Teachers’ Day, here today.

Addressing the gathering, she underlined the need for women empowerment by bringing a change in the mindset and social attitude in which educational institutions and teachers could play a pivotal role. Despite equal constitutional rights granted to women, various programmes launched for their uplift and facilities made available to them, the ground realities were quite different.

She said teachers should be sensitive towards all sections of society to make teaching and learning system effective. There was an urgent need for change in the educational curriculum to ensure overall development of students through value-based education, character building and proper grounding in culture, traditions and values of society.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal, who presided over the function, said a record enhancement of Rs 1,070 crore had been made in the education budget during the past three years and the allocation had been raised from Rs 1,497 in 2009-10 to Rs 2,567 crore this year. It was about 18 per cent of the total budgetary provisions compared to only 2.86 per cent being spent by the Centre.

Shimla, September 5
Accusing BJP leader Satya Pal Jain of misleading the media regarding the high court’s verdict in the audio CD case, Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh today asserted that it was no reflection on the merit of the case as he did not press for quashing the FIR.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said Jain had tried to create an impression that his prayer had been rejected on merit by selectively quoting from the judgment. In fact, some of the words he had quoted figured nowhere in the judgment. As per the government stand in the court, a report under Section 173 of the CrPC had been prepared in respect of the FIR, which was not on record. In view of this development, his counsel did not press for relief with a stipulation that it should not be construed that the petitioners had conceded or admitted that prima facie a case was made out against them. He had also submitted before the court that petitioners reserved the right for seeking this relief in appropriate proceedings later on, if need be. He also circulated copies of the relevant portions of the judgment.

Similarly, with respect to the prayer for transferring the case to the CBI, the court observed that as per the law laid down by the Supreme Court change of investigating agency was beyond the scope of Section 482 of the CrPC but the high court under Article 226 of the constitution could always issue appropriate direction at the instance of an aggrieved person after satisfying that the case was fit to be investigated by another agency in the fact and circumstances of a particular case. It could not be considered a petition under Article 226 at this stage.

Further, the petitioners had raised several serious issues. However, in the absence of material collected by the agency till now, the issues could not be considered on merit. In these circumstances, it could not be said if the case was fit or not for the CBI investigation. The petitioner could raise the matter in accordance with law in the appropriate court.

The minister said these observations made it clear that relevant material had not been placed before the court and that all options were open to him, right from filing an appeal in the SC, approaching the high court again or contesting the matter in the lower court. The implementation of the verdict had been stayed for two weeks and he would take appropriate action in the matter within the stipulated period after consulting legal experts.

Bilaspur, September 5
The District Congress Committee here has criticised the “dual policy” of the government regarding legalisation of encroachments on government land. It demanded that encroachments of Bhakra Dam oustees of Bilaspur should be legalised on the pattern of the encroachment policy decided by the state in respect to encroachments of religious places on government lands.

District spokesperson of the party Mast Ram Varma said here today that the government had decided to legalise encroachments of more than 2,500 religious places in the state. However, it was now delaying the formation of rehabilitation policy.

Shimla, September 5
The ruling BJP has appealed to the Opposition Congress and the CPM not to politicise the apple issue and cooperate with the government in this sensitive matter concerning growers.

Party spokesperson Ganesh Dut said already about 2.50 crore boxes of apple had been sent to various markets from the state and this would not have been possible if the government had failed to provide packaging material and trucks as alleged by the two parties.

The misleading campaign launched by them was not helping the cause of growers in any way. It was only creating a sense of insecurity among them and making them vulnerable to exploitation by middlemen, he said.

State nodal agencies such as the HPMC and the HIMFED had made appropriate arrangements for the supply of packaging material and they had executed all orders placed by the growers. The agencies could not be faulted if the growers did not place the order in time. Also, the rates of cartons were kept the same as in 2007, he claimed.

The incessant heavy rain in the region had indeed been a deterrent factor and no government, irrespective of the party in power, could tame nature, he said.

Dharamsala, September 5
The state administration has failed to check off-campus centres of out-of-state universities despite a Cabinet decision in this regard. The state Cabinet had decided to close all dubious study centres functioning in the state that were allegedly duping students. However, many such centres are still functioning in Kangra district.

A few of these centres are offering full-time courses. The modus operandi of the centres is that they get students admitted in the state universities located generally in southern or eastern states of the country. The students are then enrolled in the distance education courses.

As per the rules, very meagre fee should be charged from them for the distance education programme which is not the case here. While a portion of fee is paid to the university as distance education programme fee, those running the centres pocket a major chunk. The students are given classes in shops located in markets of Dharamsala and its surrounding towns.

The district administration had recently ordered a crackdown on these centres. Deputy Commissioner RS Gupta said they had forced many such centres to withdraw their advertisement boards. “We have asked those running such centres to display on their boards that the degrees are not recognised by the Himachal Government and the students undertaking the courses will not be eligible for government jobs. However, nobody is clearly empowered to take action against such centres,” he said.

The government, in the recently concluded Monsoon Session, had brought a Bill to appoint nodal officers to keep a check on private educational centres. However, the Bill was not passed and is likely to come up in the next session.

The DC also said the parents of students should take proper care before admitting their wards in such educational centres. The district police last week had registered a case against an employee of NIIPS, a private education centre, being run in Dharamsala. The employee of the centre was accused of giving fake degrees to the students who had not completed their courses.

The UGC, in a letter to the state government, had clarified that the state universities could function only in the respective jurisdiction of the state in which they have been established. To function at national level, they should have the approval of Parliament.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in a recent judgment, had clarified that only those universities that had the joint approval of the All-India Council of Technical Education, Distance Education Council and the UGC could run courses through distance education. However, despite clear directions, the dubious education centres are managing to thrive in the state.

Bilaspur, September 5
Sohan Singh (24), of Kallar-Chadole village, was killed on the spot when the JCB he was driving suddenly lost balance and it fell into a 200-m chasm at Ladaghat, 55 km from here yesterday.

According to reports, the driver was digging drains for release of rainwater along the roadside when the vehicle lost balance and fell down the road. A large number of villagers rushed to the spot and extricated the body of the driver from under the machine. A case has been registered. — OC

Shimla, September 5
The joint-action committee, opposing the construction of a modern slaughterhouse near Boileauganj, has demanded an inquiry into the released funds worth Rs 5 crore by the Municipal Corporation as advance to a private company in 2006 without finalising the site.

The committee, which met here today, pointed out that the company was required to contribute Rs 1.80 crore for the Rs 19.66 crore project. However, the corporation paid funds in advance.

It alleged that certain officers seemed too keen to set up the project at Boileauganj and in their eagerness to oblige the company, they overlooked the concerns of the local people.

Chairman of the committee Kushal Raj said the decision was against the wishes of the local people who were opposing it tooth and nail. “It is not a slaughterhouse, as such, but a big industry which will have serious implications on the environment. Huge quantity of waste water released daily from it will create all sorts of problems for the local people and pollute water sources in the Andari catchment. The foul smell that emanates from the waste water of the milk processing plant is already causing problems for them,” he said.

It is not a small project to be located in a residential area as daily 750 goats and sheep, 6,000 chickens and 150 pigs would be slaughtered and reserve stock for the following day would also be kept by the private company, he added.

The committee urged the corporation to review the decision and find some other secluded place for the proposed slaughterhouse.

Kangra, September 5
Dr Rajender Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, organised a freshers’ party, “Bienvenido”, for its new batch of students at the college auditorium last night. Kangra Deputy Commissioner RS Gupta was the chief guest on the occasion.

Kangra district police chief Dr Atul Fulzele, who is an alumnus of the college, was also present.

Students presented folk dances, songs and skits in a colourful function which was appreciated by one and all.

Gupta said it was a moment of pride for the college.

Aryan Guleria was adjudged as Mr Fresher, Partik Sharma as Mr Perfect and Shalen Guleria as Mr Personality. Among girls, Parul Sharma was adjudged as Miss Fresher, Neha Mohd as Miss Gorgeous and Miss Apra Attri Miss Elegance.

Members of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) too were present during the function.

Manali, September 5
The two-day workshop on the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and related issues, organised by the Himachal Pradesh Judicial Academy, concluded here today. It was attended by officials from the judiciary, prosecution, police and forests departments.

The workshop was presided over by Justice Deepak Gupta, president of the judicial academy; Justice Surinder Singh and Justice VK Sharma of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

They addressed the participants and deliberated on different topics related to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and clarified their queries.

The aim of the workshop was to ensure that the guilty was not let scot-free and, at the same time, the innocent were be punished.

The conference concluded with a vote of thanks by Justice Deepak Gupta.