Solan, September 10
A scam involving embezzlement of government funds worth several lakhs has been unearthed in the office of the Kandaghat SDM by the Solan Deputy Commissioner. An inquiry is now being conducted by the DC after the scam came to light and an official has been appointed to assess the total embezzled amount.

It was learnt that the SDM office had failed to disburse various funds, including the natural calamity fund (NCF), besides the medical reimbursement allowance, to the beneficiaries.

In some cases, funds in lieu of office expenditure were shown to be drawn from the government treasury from 2008 to May 2010 while no proper receipts of its usage were found in the records.

The case came to light when a pradhan approached the incumbent SDM Raman Sharma to get compensation of Rs 25,000 to the next of the kin of a woman who was burnt in a forest fire at Kalah village in 2006. A subsequent inquiry concluded that the amount had been sanctioned and shown drawn from the office. This led to more inquires and it was found that funds drawn on behalf of the NCF had not been distributed to the beneficiaries although they had been drawn from the government treasury from time to time.

The official account, when checked by the Kandaghat SDM on August 6, had an amount of Rs 3.39 lakh while it should have been around Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

After finding such irregularities, the SDM wrote a letter to the Solan DC on August 16, giving details of the irregularities which had been detected by him prior to his taking charge in May this year. Receipts shown by the staff concerned clearly proved the irregularities as either they were not countersigned by the then SDM or carried no date, thus reducing their authenticity.

Deputy Commissioner AS Rathode said suitable action would be taken once the inquiry was completed. He said he had directed an official to conduct an inquiry as soon as he learnt about the irregularity.

Kangra, September 10
The Pathankot-Mandi National Highway remained blocked for hours when a crane, trying to bring out a truck from a gorge, overturned at Kachiari village on the outskirts of this town today.

The truck, which had met with an accident a few days back and rolled down in the gorge, was to be pulled out. Three cranes were pressed into service for the purpose. However, one of the cranes overturned on the national highway.

Meanwhile, at least 100 persons, who had gathered there to witness the operation, had a miraculous escape as the crane overturned near them.

Two persons who were on the crane, including the driver, received injuries.

The highway remained blocked for hours as both the truck and the crane could not be removed from the scene.

The traffic, however, was diverted via Kachiari bypass for Kangra and Chandigarh.

Shimla, September 10
The State Finance Corporation, which has been suffering huge losses year after year, faces an uncertain future with the 13th Finance Commission laying down stringent norms for pubic sector undertakings (PSUs).

The accumulated loss of the corporation amounted to over Rs 102 crore as on March 31, 2009, and there is little the government can do to bail it out from the financial crisis.

In fact, the State Cabinet had, in 2008, taken a decision to discontinue lending activities undertaken by the corporation which was not implemented.

However, the issue has been reopened after implementation of the report of the Finance Commission with effect from April 2010.

As per the norms laid down by the commission, the government has to ensure a minimum 5 per cent return on investment and charge an interest of 7 per cent on all loans advanced to the PSUs. The government has already set up a committee under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary (finance) to revamp functioning of the loss-incurring units.

The corporation has now taken up the matter with the government to clarify whether or not it should continue with the lending activity. It will not sanction any new loans till that time, though applications are being accepted and processed.

The government is in a fix as it cannot extend soft loans to inefficient PSUs and there is no other option for its financial revival. As the corporation is not a banking institution, it could not survive without government assistance.

The process for merger of Nahan Foundry and Small Industries and Export Corporation into the State Industrial Development Corporation is already underway.

A majority of the 25 government undertakings, statutory boards and corporations, the accounts of which had been finalised, were perpetually in the red.

Failure to carry out fiscal reforms had taken a heavy toll on their financial health with accumulated losses increasing from Rs 773 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 1,029 crore as on March 31, 2009. 

Shimla, September 10
Electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used for the first time in the elections to the 48 urban local bodies to be held in December this year. However, it will not be used for the panchayat elections to be held simultaneously.

Stating this at a press conference here today, State Election Commissioner Dev Swaroop said in all 27,435 representatives would be elected and the election process would be completed well before January 25, 2011, when the term of the incumbent elected bodies expire. They would include 251 zila parishad members and 1,676 panchayat samiti members.

He said to ensure free and fair polls the state election commission had decided to prepare working copies of the electoral rolls in the PDF format from the database of the Election Commission of India (ECI). The exercise would be carried out with the assistance of the state Information and Technology Department. The hard and soft copies of the electoral rolls would be provided to the deputy election officers (panchayats).

The block development officers had been instructed to constitute field verification teams comprising panchayat secretary, patwari, teachers and anganwari workers. These teams would be provided with a working copy of the electoral rolls generated form the ECI database. The team would enter the ward number and house number against each elector. The field verification would be completed by September 20.

Those who had attained the age of 18 years as on January 1, 2010, would be eligible for enrolment in the voters’ list.

Solan, September 10
Giving a clear message to pharmaceutical units of Nalagarh area to adhere to norms, the drug controller today suspended the manufacturing licence of Sheram labs where the manufacturing chemist was not present while the plant was running.

The irregularity was detected during a joint inspection conducted by a team of the drug inspector and officials of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, Ghaziabad, on August 31. An inspection of the unit records further confirmed that it had not been maintained as per specifications of the Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940.

The surprise check was conducted following receipt of complaints.

Since the manufacturing licence is issued under the name of a unit’s manufacturing chemist, his absence was a serious lapse as no drugs could be manufactured in his absence.

Though the unit was served a show-cause notice after the surprise inspection, its reply was not found satisfactory.

The unit, which had initiated its operations in March this year, was a medium-scale unit which manufactured capsules and tablets.

Drug Controller Navneet Marwaha, when contacted, confirmed that the unit’s manufacturing licence was suspended for 15 days and it would be restored only if the mandatory conditions were fulfilled.

No such laxity in drug manufacture would be tolerated where the stipulated conditions were not fulfilled, he added.

Chamba, September 10
Farming in Pangi valley of Chamba district is fit to be declared organic as farmers are not using any chemical fertilisers or pesticides in the region. This was stated by Ram Subhag Singh, Agriculture and Public Relations Secretary, Himachal, while reviewing the ongoing schemes in Chamba district here yesterday.

Though it was a time-consuming process and might take as many as three years, it would help farmers in getting better prices for their produce, he added.

“The matter will be taken up with experts of Palampur Agriculture University for certification of different produce of the valley to sell these in the national and international markets,” he said.

Kisan Mitras will be apointed in all 3,243 gram panchayats of the state on October 2 who will act as catalysts between the public and the government.

He directed officials of the Animal Husbandry Department to implement artificial insemination programme effectively and keep a constant monitoring on the scheme so that the number of milch animals and production could be increased. Subhag Singh directed DC Devesh Kumar to identify land for construction of gau-sadan to tackle the menace of stray cattle. Six veterinary dispensaries would be set up at six gram panchayats before September 25, he added.

Dharamsala, September 10
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said quality-based amenities were being created in Jwalaji town to facilitate devotees visiting the shrine from different parts of the country round the year.

He stated this while speaking to mediapersons after laying the foundation stone of the Community Health Centre (CHC) building to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2.49 crore and a canopy connecting the Jwalaji shrine with the main road at an estimated cost of Rs 1.18 crore at Jwalaji today.

He further said the state government was committed to maintain the sanctity of all prominent shrines in the state and provide best of the basic amenities to the people. With the construction of CHC building at Jwalaji, better health care facilities would be available not only for the local people but also for the devotees.

Canopy connecting the shrine with the main road would help devotees to approach the temple in all weather without any inconvenience. Kangra district is known for many prominent shrines which included Jwalaji, Chamunda, Brajeshwari, Ashapuri and Shiv temple of Baijnath, which have been attracting devotees in large number.

Later, Dhumal also offered obeisance at the Jwalaji shrine.

He also listened to grievances of the people who had gathered from different parts of the area and passed necessary directions to the concerned authorities for taking appropriate action on priority.

Dhumal was scheduled to visit Jawalamukhi at 10 in the morning. However, due to bad weather conditions his helicopter failed to take off. He reached the venue at 3 pm much to the chagrin of local people who had been waiting for him.

Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ramesh Dhawala were among others present on the occasion.

Dharamsala, September 10
Former government teacher Ashwani Dogra, who was arrested in the examination scam yesterday, was today remanded in police custody for four days. The other accused who was also arrested yesterday, Ranjana, ward member from Nandrule panchayat, near Kangra, was, however, released on bail against a bond of Rs 25,000.

According to sources, the police has rounded up two more accused in the case. They include Pooja, a worker in the private academy being run at Gaggal by Dogra, and Ankush Chaudhary, a beneficiary student.

Ankush came with his certificate to the board today and surrendered to the police. He was likely to be made approver in the case.

Investigating officials have also identified four schools from where the accused had allegedly bought the answer sheets. They include government schools in Relu village near Shahpur, Baddal village near Deda Siba, Bani De Hatti village near Jawalamukhi and a school near Jassur. The schools have been identified from serial numbers of the answer sheets.

The accused allegedly bought about 150 answer sheets from each school. Though the number of students who secured matriculation certificates without appearing in the examinations has gone up to about 175, it is likely to increase as investigation into the case progresses.

Since the accused was a former teacher he had links in the education board and other government schools. He allegedly used to enroll students in his private academy with a promise that they would pass board examinations without appearing.

The only effort students had to do was to fill examination forms. The main accused used to arrange answer sheets from various government schools. He allegedly used to get the question papers solved on procured answer sheets from his academy staff. Then through his links in the board he used to find out codes of evaluation centres and sent the answer sheets through post to theses centres. The evaluators used to consider the answer sheets as routine. They marked and sent the evaluation to the board after which it was included in declared results.

Meanwhile, former chairman of the education board BR Rahi demanded a high-level inquiry into the scam.

Dharamsala, September 10
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has tightened norms for issuing gun licences across the country. In a communication to the state police authorities, the ministry stated that new licences would be issued only on “threat perception to life” which would be gauged from the police report.

Police officials have been directed to evaluate the threat perception to life of the person applying for gun licence. Earlier, licences were also issued for protection of crops and from wild animals. Many such licences have been issued in Kangra district.

Meanwhile, the orders has curtailed the power of magistrates. Earlier, district magistrates had the power to issue gun licence to a person even without police verification of the applicant’s credentials. The order would, however, not affect the existing licence holders.

According to sources, orders of the Union Ministry were essentially aimed at Naxal-hit areas. The government wanted to curtail the number of gun holders in such areas.

In addition to that, there were reports that Naxalites were trying to activate their cells in other parts of the country also.

However, since the order has been circulated in the entire country, it is being implemented in peaceful states like Himachal.

Kangra SP Atul Fulzele admitted that the said orders were received from the ministry. “We have already circulated forms to all police stations that would help us in gauging threat perception to life of a person,” he said.

Meanwhile, the said notification might come as a disappointment for Kangra residents who have a passion for guns. It can be gauged from the fact that more than 5,000 gun licences have been issued in the district. Keeping a weapon or gun is a tradition in most of the land-owning communities, especially Rajputs, in the district. Also, there are a large number of ex-servicemen settled in the district who keep guns.

However, despite such high concentration of gun holders in the district, not many incidents of abuse of these weapons in heinous crimes have come to light. However, there have been incidents when gun-holders have been accused of using them for killing wild animals on the pretext of protecting their crops.

Mandi, September 10
Thanks to frequent breakdown and “network congestion” of communication traffic, mobile phone and Internet service subscribers are facing a tough time in the region.

The breakdown of connectivity here on Thursday threw broadband, Internet and mobile phone services out of gear for six hours till the BSNL restored its connectivity during late night hours.

According to subscribers, mobile phone service providers have failed to provide uninterrupted connectivity in the state. The breakdown of BSNL broadband, Internet and “call dropping” problems are a routine affair in the state, they resented.

“The service providers are more bothered about increasing their subscribers’ base in the state. However, they have failed to provide quality network,” they rued.

Even the telecom vigilance authority, which is responsible for enforcing TRAI regulations among service providers, is doing a precious little to take defaulters to task.

Meanwhile, service providers cited hill terrain as the reason behind the problem.

The connectivity breakdown also hit bank, insurance companies and online stock traders.

Businessmen and Internet surfers at Indira market complex complained that they could not do their daily business as Internet services remained out of order.

“Besides the BSNL, other service providers like Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom, Reliance mobile, Idea and Aircel too failed to provide any relief,” they said.

VK Sharma, general manager, BSNL, said connectivity was disrupted because the main link from Mandi was snapped.