Dharamsala, February 1
Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today questioned the Karmapa and his aides regarding the sources of foreign exchange recovered from his monastery. This was second questioning of the Karmapa. Earlier, an Una police team had quizzed Karmapa.

A team of ED officials, under the stewardship of the deputy director, Chandigarh, V Neerja, swooped down on the Kagyu monastery of the Karmapa in Sidhbari near Dharamsala today at 12 noon.

Sources here said the ED team recorded the statements of the officials concerned with the Karma Garchen Trust. V Neerja later also questioned Karmapa as he is the head of the trust that is in controversy.

V Neerja on the phone said they had recorded the statements today regarding the foreign exchange recovered from the Karmapa monastery.

When asked if Karmapa had also been questioned, she refused to comment. She said the investigations into the case were going on and a case under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) could be registered.

The sources, however, told The Tribune that the ED officials were contemplating registering a case under FEMA against the managers of the trust.

Under the new FEMA rules, as per the guidelines of the RBI, the accused can move application for getting their offence compounded.

The sources said the officials of Karmapa might not be given the relaxation of compounding offence under FEMA due to apprehensions of their Chinese connections.

The sources also said the ED officials might decide on the case on the directions of the Government of India.

Meanwhile, a former diplomat and spokesperson of the Karmapa, Karma Topden, while talking to newsmen, said the officials of the trust were cooperating with the investigating agency.

When asked if the Karmapa was asked to move out of Himachal, Topden said the Budhists in Sikkim would be glad to welcome him there, provided the government gives permission to do so.

Meanwhile, the Una police carried out a search at the house of KP Bharadwaj, Dharamsala businessman, who was selling land to the trust. The house was earlier sealed as no one was present there. The house was searched in the presence of the wife of Bharadwaj.

The Tibetans have decided to intensify their protest against the police action against the Karmapa.

They have been carrying out candlelight marches for the past two days to protest against police action against the Karmapa. However, the sources said tomorrow the Tibetans had planned an impressive protest march in Dharamsala.

Shimla, February 1
Adopting double standards, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has cleared two major hydroelectric projects on the Ravi river without enforcing the condition of the minimum riparian distance between projects.

The ministry has granted the environment clearance to both 240 MW Kutehr and 180 MW Holi Bajoli projects which are separated by just a few metres. The Shukla Committee, set up by the high court, had recommended a minimum riparian distance of 5 km between the tail race of the upstream project and the full reservoir level (FRL) of the downstream project. The ministry, which was asked to consider the reports, had in its affidavit stated that a minimum riparian distance of one to two kilometres should be maintained and the matter was still under adjudication.

However, the ministry has not enforced the condition and cleared the Kutehr project with the stipulation that the quantum of minimum environmental discharge to be released in the river will be 23 per cent instead of 15 per cent as laid down in the hydropower policy.

While clearing the Holi Bajoli project located upstream, the ministry had earlier advised JSW Energy to shift the Kutehr project downstream for maintaining the minimum riparian distance. However, now clearance has been granted in the existing domain on the plea that techno-economic clearance for the project has already been granted.

Similarly the Holi Bajoli project has been granted clearance with the condition that the minimum environmental discharge to be released in the river at all times will be 20 per cent, 5 per cent more than laid down in the policy.

However, in case of the 800 MW Kol Dam project, which is in an advanced stage of construction, the ministry has only two months ago asked the NTPC to consider reduction in the height of the dam by 4 m to prevent submergence of trees. It is quite obvious that the ministry has been adopting double standards in granting clearances to private projects, which are being handed out a favourable dispensation even at the planning stage, whereas public sector projects are being asked to effect changes in design even in the advanced stage of implementation.

Moreover, granting clearance on the condition of releasing a higher discharge is merely eyewash as there is no mechanism in place to monitor discharge. The rivers on which projects have already come up virtually run dry downstream the diversion structures during the lean winter months.

What is riparian distance?

The distance between full reservoir level of a downstream project and the tail race of the upstream project

Dharamsala, February 1
The 17th Karmapa, Ugyen Trinley Dorjee, is not the only Tibetan having benami properties in and around Dharamsala. In absence of a government policy to rehabilitate the Tibetans, hundreds of Tibetans have acquired benami properties here.

As per the information available here, the Tibetans settled in Dharamsala are facing over 200 cases of encroachments on forest land or acquiring benami properties in the name of Himachal residents or in partnership with them. They are doing business and running hotels on benami properties.

As per the information collected from office of SP Kangra this year, 3,500 new Tibetans have registered at Dharamsala.

The Tibetans could not buy land in Himachal. They then stared exploring back-door measures to acquire land. They purchased land in the name of their followers who were residents of Himachal.

Sewa Devi Negi case is classic case of method adopted by Tibetans to buy land in Himachal. Sewa Devi Negi is a resident of Kinnaur district of Himachal and owns a few Biswa (a measure of land). The trust, headed by Karmapa, purchased about 500 kanal land in the name of Sewa Devi Negi in Trilokpur area of Kangra district. A huge monastery now stands on the land.

During investigation, when the officials concerned asked her about the source of money, she maintained that the amount was given to her as loan by the Karmapa trust. The case is now pending for decision with the district magistrate, Kangra.

Due to the problem of Tibetans acquiring benami properties, the Himachal government in 2005 brought a legislation to regularise these properties. Under the legislation, the Tibetans who have acquired benami properties could apply for regularisation of their land on lease. They had to deposit 10 per cent of the market value of land to get it regularised.

After the legislation, the Tibetans declared 76 benami properties. They moved applications for regularisation of the properties. However, none of the application has yet been processed due to legal lacunae.

Officials here said the government should adopt a policy to rehabilitate and regulate the growing Tibetan population in Kangra district pending which the number of benami transactions and land deals would increase proportionately.

Shimla, February 1
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has urged the Centre to carry out recruitment in ITBP, CRPF, CISF and other paramilitary forces on merit and accordingly frame a policy in this regard.

Speaking at the Chief Ministers’ conference on internal security at New Delhi today, he also said the present male recruitable population policy adopted for recruitment in these forces had deprived the deserving youth from the hilly areas of opportunities to serve the nation.

He urged the Centre to provide sanction to all pending bills passed by Vidhan Sabha which were pending with the President of India.

He also requested the Union Government to fully reimburse the expenditure being incurred on the security of the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa. At present, only a small part of the expenditure was being reimbursed by the Ministry of External Affairs in the case of the Dalai Lama, while the entire expenditure on the security of the Karmapa was being borne by the state.

He said the state would set up a Tibetan Refugee Unit (TRU) in the Intelligence Department at Shimla and a Tibetan Refugee Cell at Dharamsala in consultation with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs to effectively monitor the activities of 27,542 Tibetan refugees living in Himachal. He urged the Centre to provide financial assistance for establishing these units and to strengthen the security infrastructure in tribal Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts, bordering China. He underlined the need for developing requisite infrastructure for speedy and reliable connectivity up to the border areas.

He also demanded enhancement of allocations under the Border Area Development Programme, construction of a broad-gauge railway line connecting Manali to Leh, a battalion of the National Disaster Response Force and subsidised helicopter services to the tribal areas during winter months on the pattern of north-eastern states.

He also demanded enhancement of wages of 471 special police officers in view of the rising cost of living and full reimbursement of the expenditure on deployment of the ITBP in the areas bordering Jammu and Kashmir.

He urged the Centre to sanction Rs 30 crore for strengthening training infrastructure and to release Rs 35.82 crore Central share for the raising of three India Reserve Battalions in the state.

Shimla, February 1
Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta has condemned the statement of state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur alleging that the BJP government in the state has failed to deliver. He asserted that the three years of the Dhumal regime had been marked by remarkable achievements on the development front.

In a statement issued here today, he said the good performance had been acknowledged by national magazines and news channels which had conferred numerous awards on the state. Even the Government of India had lauded the efforts of the state for 100 per cent achievements under the 20 Point Programme.

He said Kaul Singh was making such misleading statements to remain afloat as he had been isolated in the party. However, the people were aware of the facts and they would not be misled by such utterances.

Referring to the bungling in the State Education Board, Bragta said the present government had not only exposed the malpractices in the board but also taken stern action against the culprits. It had also registered an FIR and a high-level committee had been constituted to look into the functioning of the board and to suggest remedial measures.

Taking exception to the charge that the government failed to provide cartons to the apple growers, he said proper arrangements were made for marketing the apple produce and as a result the growers got good returns with an average price of Rs 700 per box.

Dharamsala, February 1
In the last three years, 7,275 cases of social security pension have been approved in Kangra district. The approval has benefited the poor, old and widows in the district. The deputy commissioner RS Gupta shared the information while sanctioning 1,175 new cases of the social security pension here today.

While giving the details of number of cases approved in the last three years, the DC said in 2008-09 1,278 cases were approved, in 2009-10 3,232 cases and in the current financial year 2,765 cases were approved.

The government has launched various social welfare schemes for the needy like the Kanyadan Yojna, the Widow Remarriage Scheme, schemes for poor women etc. More than Rs 70 crore has been spent to make the pension scheme successful in the last three year and Rs 330 per month is being provided to 48,559 individuals under the scheme, whereas Rs 19.60 crore has been spent in the current financial year.

The government has spent Rs 30 lakh for the upliftment of Harijan colonies and 453 poor families have been provided with financial help of Rs 48,500 each to buit houses. Similarly, 74 poor families get financial assistance of Rs 11,001 each under the Kanyadan Yojna.

Mandi, February 1
Even as the municipal council (MC) today removed squatters from streets and footpaths of the town, the council looked the other way to take action against the shop owners who have extended their shops onto the market corridors. The council took action against the poor squatters as they had become eyesore encroaching into the roads and markets adding to the congestion in the town.

From school bazaars to the roofs of the Indira market, from the bus stand roads to Chohata Bazaars, squatters multiply every month under the nose of the MC.

As the MC has no rehabilitation programme, the squatters say the anti-squatting drive will deprive them of their livelihood.

They say that the administration and the MC have yet to allocate them a place to put up their rehris in the town. “We have made several pleas before the administration and council in this regards but to no avail”, they rued.

On the other hand, they cited the case of shop owners in the Indira Market where the council has not bothered to take action against the offenders who have extended their shops on the corridor of the shopping complex.

A round of the Indira market is an eye-opener. Most of the 234 shop owners have extended their shops into the corridor meant for the pedestrians. It is very difficult to walk in the first and ground floor of the market, rued Lokinder Vaidya, a local resident.

Later this afternoon, small squatters met the president of the council Sushila Sonkhla and urged her to allot them a place in the town.

DC Mandi Dr Amandeep Garg said the administration was trying to locate a space for them so that the squatters were rehabilitated.

Shimla, February 1
The HP Non-Government College Lecturers Association has urged Himachal Pradesh University to set up its evaluation centres in well-established private colleges for prompt declaration of results.

President of the association CP Kaushal said the process of evaluation would be expedited as a large number of teachers were working in these colleges. The creation of new evaluation centres in established colleges like MLSM PG College, Sundernagar, DAV College, Kangra, and SVSD College, Bhatoli, would help prevent delays in declaration of results of undergraduate courses and enable the university complete the job well before the deadline of May 30.

Welcoming the decision of the university to re-schedule the academic session in the affiliated colleges, he said the step would help increase the number of teaching days in colleges. He also hailed the decision to appoint a person from teaching side on the post of controller of examination.

Nurpur, February 1
The police intercepted a Santro car (DL02-CAD-7537) and recovered gold jewellery weighing 2,242 gram and Rs 2.2 lakh last night.

According to the police, it signalled the vehicle to stop at Kandwal barrier but the driver ignored it. The police chased the vehicle and stop ped it at Bagni on the Pathankot-Mandi highway.

On searching the vehicle, the police found jewellery and cash. The car occupants could not produce the bill of the jewellery and even failed to reply satisfactorily.

According to DSP Hari Ram, the occupants have identified themselves as Vikram Suri and Sunil Chauhan, both residents of Delhi.

The DSP said the jewellery and cash had been seized and the occupants were arrested. Meanwhile, the accused have been imposed penalty.