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10 killed as bus falls into gorge near Chamba
XEN caught taking Rs
10,000
Govt under fire for favouring Jaypee
Una furnace unit owners threaten fast unto death
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HC notice to principal secy
Health camps on April 7,
14
‘Process to acquire Bantony not initiated’
Woman killed in mishap
Crime bureau has no info on unsolved murder cases: RTI
Tributes paid to quake victims
Doctor thrashed
23 judicial officers attend advance course
Roadside vendors challaned
Principal told to pay Rs 2 lakh relief
2 murdered in Kangra
Assessment of loss to river by project
NCRB has no info on unsolved murder cases: RTI
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10 killed as bus falls into gorge near Chamba
Chamba, April 4 The Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Chamba Rohit Rathore, who, along with a team of doctors and other staff, was on the accident site to supervise the relief and rescue operations revealed that the 10 deceased were included two women. He said the bodies of the deceased had been extricated from the bus with the help of local people. The deceased had been identified as Gian Chand, Bhuri, Gian, Geeta, Tek Chand, Jaram Singh, Rakesh, Chandersh, Dinesh and Dilip whose bodies had been handed over to their kin after the post-mortem examination, the SDM said. Thirtytwo injured had been rushed to nearby hospitals and also to regional hospital for undergoing treatment. The injured included driver of the bus Madan and conductor Sanjeev Kumar who had also been admitted to the hospital. The SDM said an immediate relief of Rs 10,000 each to the next of the kin of the deceased had been provided while Rs 5,000 each to the injured had also been distributed to meet their medical expenses. Meanwhile, the police had registered a case of rash and negligent driving under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and investigating into the cause of accident. The Himachal Chief Minister, Prof PK Dhumal, and HP Vidhan Sabha Speaker Tulsi Ram expressed grief over the accident and conveyed condolences to the bereaved families and wished early recovery of the injured.
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XEN caught taking Rs
10,000
Sundernagar, April 4 According to SP, Vigilance, Mandi, Virender Sharma, confirmed that a team from the state vigilance, led by inspector Madan Dhiman, caught the accused red-handed from his office while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000. The amount has reportedly been recovered from the accused. It was further confirmed that the accused had been arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. As per the report, the complainant Naresh Kumar, contractor, was allotted a work of stadium of Punjab School, Sundernagar, worth Rs 8.50 lakh which was to be completed by March 28, 2011. Though the complainant had applied for the extension of the work, the accused ordered to stop it and demanded Rs 30,000 for extending the permission of work. The complainant reported the matter to the Vigilance staff and asked the accused that he would give the money in instalments for which the accused had agreed. A vigilance team laid the trap and caught the accused from his office this
afternoon.
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Govt under fire for favouring Jaypee
Shimla, April 4 The issue was raised by Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh and senior party leader GS Bali during Question Hour who maintained that the group had been allowed to acquire land in excess of requirement and it had even encroached on the government land. Revenue Minister Gulab Singh admitted that seven cases of encroachment involving 4-93 hectare of land in the Karcham Wangtu Project had come to light but refuted the allegation that action was not being taken against the company. He said five of these cases involving dumping of muck in the forest areas were instituted against the company in 2008. A fine of Rs 24 lakh was imposed which had been deposited by the company. It had removed the muck and raised plantation in two cases. The remaining three cases were yet to be finalised. Further, two more cases instituted in 2010 were pending decision before the sub-divisional collector. Regarding the charge that the company raised orchards on the land acquired for construction of the power project, Gulab Singh said the matter would be looked into and if there were any violation, appropriate action would be taken into the matter. He said in all, the company had been given 3675-08 bighas of land on lease for Baspa-II and Karcham Wangtu power projects He also said in all, 42 lease deeds were executed in respect of four hydroelectric projects namely, Karcham Wangtu, Shorang, Panwi and Palar. An amount of Rs 19.55 crore was received as lease money. In respect of Milan and Tidong projects, Rs 34.91 lakh and Rs 15.57 crore was yet to be received. In a written reply, the Education Minister told Kaul Singh that there were 338 unsafe government school buildings in the state and the government had already granted permission to dismantle 204 such structures. The cases of other unsafe buildings were pending.
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Una furnace unit owners threaten fast unto death
Dharamsala, April 4 General secretary of the Una industrial association CS Kapoor has threatened to sit on a fast at the local district headquarters if his grievance is not redressed by the Industries Department by April 15. Kapoor alleged, “I have been forced to take this decision due to non-cooperation by officials of the Industries Department. It is a matter of survival for those who have invested in the furnace units in the state.” Kapoor said he had started a furnace unit at Mehatpur in 1998. “We produce calcium carbide that is used in galvanising and production of acetylene gas. However, over the past few years the market of calcium carbide has finished as the Government of India allowed its import from China. Almost all units producing calcium carbide in the country are facing recession,” he alleged. We had moved an application to the Himachal Government to allow us to change our production technology to produce ferrous metals instead of calcium carbide. The change in technology would not involve any extra power consumption. We would manage with 2,000 KW load already sanctioned to us. However, the Industries Department had rejected our case for changing production technology. We do not have an investment to start a new unit in some other state and if the government fails to give us permission we would be forced to close down and end in economic blue, Kapoor alleged. Sources in the Industries Department said the state government in a meeting held in February, 2010, had put all furnace units in the negative list. It decided against allowing any new furnace unit in the state or expansion in existing units. The decision was taken with a view that furnace units consume a lot of power and cause pollution. The state could earn more revenue by selling the power saved from such units and earn more rather than allowing the furnace units to expand their production. The Industries Department officials said they were bound by the government decision and cannot allow expansion of the existing furnace units. The affected industrialists have, however, demanded that the government should allow expansion of furnace units that do not demand any extra power load. This would save many state residents who had made investments in the furnace units in the state. The steel industry in the state is already facing recession due to the decision of the government to impose entry tax on raw material coming in the state. In most of the steel units, the raw material comes from outside the state. The entry tax is making steel units in the state unviable.
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HC notice to principal secy
Shimla, April 4 While issuing notices, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Karol further directed them to file their reply and listed the matter for further hearing on May 23. The petitioner has approached the court with a plea that his statement recorded under Section 161 CrPC is false and forged and urged the court to direct the senior judicial authority for holding an inquiry. Dr Kapil Mohan has mentioned in his petition that his statement was never recorded by any investigating officer on May 13, 2010. He came to know about his statement through newspapers and he immediately contradicted it. The petitioner has questioned as to how the investigating officer can record his statement at Mohan Nagar, Gaziabad, and statement of HN Handa at Solan on the same date. He alleged that it was an illegal practice adopted by the investigating officer. He said this statement was defamatory and the petitioner had no remedy except to approach the Earlier, another prosecution witness Prem Chand Jain has already filed such a petition in the high court where in it has directed the investigating officer to file his personal affidavit. A special court, Shimla, has taken the cognizance in this case only considering the statements of these two witnesses recorded by investigating officer under Section 161 CrPC.
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Health camps on April 7,
14
Shimla, April 4 The camps would be held at Ghumarwin and Talai in Bilaspur; Zonal Hospital at Tissa in Chamba, Nadaun and Jahu in Hamirpur; Dharamsala, Kangra, Nurpur and Palampur in Kangra; Reckong Peo and Bhabanagar in Kinnaur; Kullu and Manali in Kullu; Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti; Sahora Mohalla and Bhiuli in Mandi; Krishana Nagar and Ruldu-Bhatta in Shimla; Nahan and Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur; and Amb and Mehatpur in Una. — TNS |
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‘Process to acquire Bantony not initiated’
Shimla, April 4 The building along with the estate belonged to Maharaja of Sirmour and thereafter became the property of Maharaja of Dharbanga and finally acquired by Ram Krishan and Sons from whom it was taken on rent by the police department in 1957. The government initiated the acquisition proceedings under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act in April 1975 for construction of a mini secretariat on the premises. It was followed by notifications under Sections 6 and 7 of the Act in August 1977 but for less area. The owners challenged the notifications in the high court but their petition was dismissed in August 1979 and the Supreme Court also dismissed their appeal in April 1983. In between, land acquisition collector passed an award in September 1986 but before it was approved by the government, the owners moved the high court which decided the case in their favour. The government was asked to initiate acquisition proceedings on November 2, 2000, after the building was declared a heritage structure but there no action was taken. On November 22, 2002, the annexe was handed over to the owners but the owners filed a vacation petition under the Rent Control Act and on June 22, 2007, the rent controller passed the vacation order. The government’s appeal against the order was dismissed by the district judge on March 30, 2010 and the revision petition filed in the High Court was also dismissed on September 9, 2010.
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Dalhousie, April 4 According to a report, the deceased had been identified as Shakuntla Devi. The injured had been admitted to the Swami Harigiri Hospital at Kakira from where three seriously injured were rushed to a hospital in Pathankot. The police has registered a case and the investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of accident. — OC
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Crime bureau has no info on unsolved murder cases: RTI
Shimla, April 4 The NCRB, which is mandated to collect, maintain and disseminate all information regarding crime and criminals, had initially refused to provide information regarding the unsolved murder cases under the RTI Act. In response to the application of RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya seeking the number of unsolved murder cases in the country and also those more than five-year old, the NCRB had stated that it had not maintained information in this format. It only maintains the record of cases in which charge sheets had been filed or final reports had been submitted in a particular year. Hence, it was not in a position to provide the information sought. Bhattacharya then filed an appeal with the Union Ministry of Home against the refusal of the central public information officer (CPIO), NCRB, to give information. He argued that the CPIO could not ask an applicant to seek information in a particular format and that it was the mandate of the NCRB to collect, process and analyse the crime data. The ministry accepted the appeal and directed the NCRB to take appropriate action on the RTI application. Vibhu Raj, deputy director, NCRB, has now sent the application to the director generals of police of all states and union territories with the instructions to supply the information to the applicant and also to send a copy of it to the NCRB. The ministry had also said the government provided over Rs 65.50 crore to the NCRB over the 2005-06 to 2009-10 period to enable it to carry out its functions. Besides the NCRB, similar agencies were to be set up at the state and district levels across the country for maintaining record of crime data.
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Tributes paid to quake victims
Kangra, April 4 Former divisional town planner PP Raina expressed concern over not bringing the town under the purview town planning net which could prove disastrous. He said town planning rules were being diluted and some areas of Dharamsala were taken out from the purview of the town planning, which, he said, was the matter of great concern. Neeraj Kumar, SDM, Kangra, also paid tributes. He said people must adhere to laid down construction manual for the seismic zone areas as the Kangra valley was falling under the seismic zone V. The function was presided over by the municipal chief of the town Suman Lata Verma and Ashok Sharma, vice-president, was the guest of honour. DRPGMC Tanda students and sportspersons from the district attended the function. The fire services department presented a mock drill on the occasion and showed techniques of saving people during earthquake followed by fire.
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Doctor thrashed
Dharamsala, April 4 Sources said Rohit came to his vehicle in the parking place to collect some papers. Four youths standing there were making noise. The doctor asked them to keep a low tone as patients admitted in the emergency ward of the hospital would be disturbed. The doctor’s advice infuriated the youths who got into an argument with him. They allegedly started thrashing the doctor. The police has managed to arrest one of the accused. The doctor sustained minor injuries on his face. In his complaint, the doctor alleged that one of the accused was carrying a knife. The arrested youth was produced in the court today and was remanded in police custody till April 6. The other accused were still absconding. The police has registered a case under Sections 353, 332, 506 and 34 of the IPC against the accused youths.
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23 judicial officers attend advance course
Shimla, April 4 The course was inaugurated by Chief Justice Kurian Joseph. While inaugurating the training course, he called upon the judges to act without fear, favour or ill will. He further asked the judicial officers to uphold the spirit of the Constitution of India so that the faith of the people in the judicial system was strengthened. Justice Deepak Gupta, who is also the president of the state judicial academy, stressed upon the fact that the intention of holding such courses was to strengthen the skill of the officers who decide upon the cases so that speedy and economic justice could be delivered to the people. Abira Basu, deputy director of the academy, said during the training programme, the judges of the high court and other experts would address the participant officers on different topics relating to these Acts.
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Roadside vendors challaned
Dharamsala, April 4 ASI Balbir Singh, who led the team in the drive, said, “We have challaned a few vendors and some were been left after a warning. Last week also we imposed a fine of Rs 800-900 on these vendors and warned them but they do not listen.” The ASI said these vendors put up stalls which block traffic and also cause a lot of problems for the pedestrians. The street vendors sit right in front of some banks which block their entrance. The police said they had instructed them to use the Ramlila ground but they fail to comply with the directions. The Monday market has been there from quite sometime but here has been no permanent solution to this menace. The MC authorities explained, “We are helpless as we cannot provide any permanent area to these vendors. We have nothing to do with the Ramlila ground as there has been a separate Ramlila committee and only they can allow them to use it. But they do not approach the committee as they have to pay some fees for the ground.” An MC official alleged that the whole administration was responsible for this menace. |
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Principal told to pay Rs 2 lakh relief
Shimla, April 4 The forum headed by R.L. Azad passed this order on a complaint filed by Attar Singh alleging that his wife Kamlesh Kumari was working in the above said college. On November 1, 2007, she was travelling in a bus from Solan to Kandaghat, which met with an accident, as a result of which she died. The deceased was insured with the Reliance General Insurance Company under the “Group Personal Accident Scheme” which was valid from November, 2006, to November, 2008. The principal lodged a claim after the lapse of 10 months with the insurance company, who instead of settling it rejected the same on the sole ground that the intimation regarding the death of the deceased was not given to them well in time. As per the conditions of the insurance, the employer has to a lodge claim within 30 days of occurrence of the accident. However, as per the notification issued by the state government, the head of departments will lodge claim with the insurance company within 30 days of occurrence of any accident. While passing the order, the forum observed that as per the notification it was not only incumbent but also obligatory on part of the principal to have lodged the claim with the insurance company being the head of department of the deceased, under whom Kamlesh was working as a sweeper, within a period of 30 days. The forum further observed that the insurance company in our view had rightly treated the claim as “no claim” as the claim was not lodged within 30 days of occurrence of the accident by the principal. The forum held that the dilly-dally attitude of the principal was a clear case of deficiency in service as well as an unfair trade practice. Consequently, the principal was held liable to pay Rs 2,00,000 along with interest and litigation expenses to the complainant. The forum also imposed Rs 3,500 as costs on the principal as litigation charges. |
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2 murdered in Kangra
Dharamsala, April 4 However, after a post-mortem examination it was found that Sanjay died due to head injuries. A case of murder has been registered in the matter. An uncle of the deceased, who has lodged a complaint with the police, suspects the role of wife and some other people behind Sanjay’s murder. The police has not arrested anybody in the case, the SP said. In another case, Vijay Kumar, a resident of Paral village in the Indora area of the district, was murdered by two of his friends last night. The SP said Vijay Kumar along with two other youths, Gurmail Singh and Subhash Chand, had gone to a jagrata yesterday. They allegedly got into a scuffle over some issue and the accused hit Vijay. Injured Vijay was shifted to a hospital, where he died today. Both accused have been arrested and booked for murder, the SP said. |
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Assessment of loss to river by project
Faryari (Kullu), April 4 The protest was held by hoteliers, self-help groups (SHG) women, the Yuvak Mandal, the Kardar Sangh, Banjar, members of the Seraj Tourism Association, 90-year-old former Kullu MLA Dile Ram Shabab and Himalayan Niti Abhiyan coordinator Guman Singh. The project site is within the buffer zone of the GHNP, a home to over 300 species of birds, including the endangered western tragopan, musk deer, cheer pheasants and other medicinal plants, herbs, pines and flowers and fruit orchards. The government had cancelled nine proposed hydel projects on the river on May 31, 2004, and declared that the Tirthan would be preserved for eco-tourism. After government banned all projects on the river, the Kolkata-based Swastik Projects approached the high court and claimed a compensation for cancellation of the project from the government-run Himurja. The division bench of the court comprising then Chief Justice VK Gupta and justice Rajiv Sharma upheld the government’s decision and appointed an arbitrator to settle the dispute over the damages as claimed by the company. But the three-member panel, Prof AL Ramanathan, school of environment science, JNU, Delhi, Prof A R Yousuf, dean, faculty of biological sciences, Kashmir University and Dr Nitai Kundu, senior scientist, wetland management, Kolkata, was accompanied by company members. Ramesh Kumar and Ratan Singh, residents, Shivan Shadu village, said they were lured by the company into sign land deals with it. “Now we will not give an inch of it as we realise we will become landless and outsiders will pollute our environment and culture”, they said. President, Seraj Tourism Development Association, MS Rathore, said they respected the high court order and oppose hydel project on the Tirthan. “The project will wipe out trout and local homestay trout units and gharats and ruin the Rs 2.35 crore trout fish farm coming up on the Trithan to propagate fisheries in the Tirthan river”, they added. The panel assured the villagers that they had come just to assess the damage this project would cause to local ecology. But villagers told them that terms of reference were to seek compensation not to assess the environmental damage. Prof Yousuf told The Tribune that they would submit the report to the arbitrator and they had noted down the protest by villagers. They also met director, fisheries, Dr BD Sharma, director, GHNP, Ajay Srivastav, and other officials present on the spot. Interestingly, director, Swastik, KC Lunavat, said the company had already withdrawn this project and was seeking the compensation from the government for which it had to approach the court. “We will not set up the project here”, he claimed. |
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NCRB has no info on unsolved murder cases: RTI
Shimla, April 4 The NCRB, which is mandated to collect, maintain and disseminate all information regarding crime and criminals, had initially refused to provide information regarding the unsolved murder cases under the RTI Act. In response to the application of RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya seeking the number of the unsolved murder cases in the country and also those more than five-year old, it stated that it had not maintained information in this format. It only maintained the record of cases in which charge sheets had been filed or final reports been submitted in a particular year. Hence, it was not in a position to provide the information. Bhattacharya then filed an appeal with the Union Ministry of Home against the refusal of the central public information officer (CPIO), NCRB, to give information.He argued that the CPIO could not ask an applicant to seek information in a particular format and that it was the mandate of the NCRB to collect, process and analyse the crime data. The ministry accepted the appeal and directed the NCRB to take appropriate action on the RTI application. Vibhu Raj, deputy director, NCRB, has now sent the application to the director generals of police of all states and union territories with the instructions to supply the information to the applicant and also to send a copy of it to the NCRB. The ministry had also said the government provided over Rs 65.50 crore to the NCRB over the 2005-06 to 2009-10 period to enable it to carry out its functions. Besides the NCRB, similar agencies were to be set up at the state and district levels across the country for maintaining record of crime data.
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Ten persons were killed and 32 others wounded when a private bus carrying 42 passengers went off the road and fell into a deep gorge near Koti in the outlying area on the Chamba-Killar (Pangi) road today. The ill-fated bus was coming from Bharera to Chamba.
A team of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mandi, today caught red-handed Harbajan Singh Bagga, XEN, BBMB township, here from his office while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a contractor on the pretext of extending the permission of work.
Residents of this town today paid tributes to earthquake victims and took out a candlelight procession in their memory
today.
“Go back Swastik, we want no project on the trout-rich Tirthan”, slogans by local villagers carrying banners in the buffer zone of the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) greeted a three-member panel, appointed by high court arbitrator Justice Surinder Sarup(retd), as soon as it arrived here today to assess the damage caused by Plachan project here to the Trout-rich Tirthan river and its ecology.
