Dharamsala, April 9
National BJP vice-president and Rajya Sabha member Shanta Kumar has urged BJP president Nitin Gadkari to call for special session of Parliament to discuss the Lokpal Bill.

While talking to The Tribune, Shanta Kumar said if a special session of Parliament could be convened to welcome US President Barack Obama, then a similar session should be held now to discuss the Lokpal Bill.

Anna Hazare’s fast unto death and overwhelming response to it by the common man of India has presented a golden opportunity after 42 years to curb corruption. It is unfortunate that Parliament cannot pass this important legislation for the last 42 years. The Bill can prove an important milestone in the way to achieve clean administration.

Example of Hong Kong is very evident. Hong Kong established an independent commission against corruption. The commission over the years has helped check the menace of corruption there and Hong Kong has now become one of the cleanest countries.

He further said he was very sad that the BJP failed to lead the agitation against corruption. “After returning from New York, where I took part in a debate concerning corruption in the UN General Assembly, the BJP leadership was urged to take lead on the issue of corruption,” Shanta added.

“Instead of marching to Lal Chowk, the BJP should have marched against corruption and hoisted flag for a clean administration. The way people have responded to the Anna Hazare’s campaign against corruption, it seems that their limits of tolerance have now touched limits,” he said.

Shanta said, “The country is falling deep into corruption every second. We are very late.”

Shimla, April 9
Chief Minister PK Dhumal’s announcement that the government will enact a law to confiscate property amassed through corrupt means sparked off angry exchanges in the Vidhan Sabha yesterday as the opposition Congress objected to the one-sided picture presented by mentioning the scams of only the UPA regime while giving the background for the move.

Dhumal, while making a suo motu statement, said with scams at the national level like the 2G spectrum, the CWG, the Adarsh housing society, the Hasan Ali case and black money stashed away in foreign banks, the appointment of the CVC, defence deals and export and import of food commodities, the issue of corruption was agitating the mind of everybody in the country.

Those occupying high places in polity, administration and business had lost credibility and the situation was so grave that even the MNREGA, named after Mahatma Gandhi, had become infamous for graft rather than providing gainful employment.

He said the proposed Bill to be introduced in the next session would ensure that the corrupt and their family members would not be able to enjoy the property amassed by foul means. It would be a step in the direction of liberating the state from the scourge of corruption.

Leader of the opposition Vidya Stokes and senior Congress leader Kaul Singh were on their legs as soon as he finished the statement. Kaul Singh pointed out that the mention of alleged scams pertaining to only the UPA regime was unfair and an attempt to malign the Congress. The Chief Minister should also have referred to the “cash-on-camera” scams involving Bangaru Laxman and Judeo and land scams of Yedurappa.

As far as the state was concerned, a BJP MP was asking for narco test of leaders in view of the increased commission which led to noisy scenes. However, yesterday being the last day of the session both sides avoided any more fireworks.

The House also passed a government resolution urging the Centre to include “van rakshak” for protecting crops from monkeys in the scheduled employment under the MNREGA.

Shimla, April 9
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has called upon the legal fraternity to make every effort to deliver speedy justice to the people as delay is detrimental to the interest of the affected persons.

Presiding over a two-day meeting of the Akhil Bhartiya Adhivakta Parishad here today, he laid stress on the need for expeditious investigation of cases by investigating agencies so that courts could decide matters at the earliest.

He said corruption was the main issue before the nation and there was a need for self-introspection and people should join hands to root out corruption from society.

He said the government was determined to root out corruption and the corrupt, howsoever influential, would not be allowed to go scot-free. At the same time it would be ensured that the innocent would not be harassed unnecessarily.

He said a fresh thinking was necessary on all legal and constitutional aspects and added that misuse and misinterpretation of constitution should not be allowed by any person at any cost.

He said the Akhil Bhartiya Adhivakta Parishad was not only a body of lawyers set up to protect and promote professional interests but also bound to become the nucleus of the constituent assembly of the new resurgent Bharat.

Earlier, national general secretary of the parishad D. Bharat Kumar spoke at length about the activities of his organisation. National president of the council Justice Parvat Rao also spoke.

Shimla, April 9
As many as 42 cases of benami land deals, including 10 cases involving Tibetans, have come to light over the past three years.

This was stated by the Revenue Minister in a written reply. He said the government had not given permission to any Tibetan to purchase land in the state over the past three years. He also stated that 234 cases of encroachment on the government land by Tibetans had been detected, and it was found that they had also built permanent structures on it.

Out of these, 145 cases pertained to Shimla, 88 to Kullu and one to Mandi.

Replying to another question, the minister said 67 hydroelectric projects had deposited the amount due under the local area development fund (LADF), and 62 projects had not done so.

In the case of the Rs 240-crore Kutehar project, the executing company, JSW Private Limited, had moved the high court against the provisions stipulating one per cent of generation to be deposited in the LADF, and the matter was pending adjudication.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal said as many as 1,194 persons had been provided employment on compassionate grounds over the past three years, out of which 865 were employed in government departments, and 329 in various boards and corporations. 

Shimla, April 9
The senior Congress leadership today vowed to dislodge the “corrupt” Dhumal regime by waging a united battle for the 2011 assembly.

The speaker underlined the need for sinking differences to bring the party back to power in the state at a function organised at the Congress Bhawan to felicitate the newly appointed Congress Working Committee member Dhani Ram Shandil and AICC joint secretary Asha Kumari.

State party chief Kaul Singh said corruption was the main issue in the state and the party would soon launch a mass campaign to expose its scams and scandals. The BJP had no locus standi on the issue as its top leaders had been caught in camera accepting bribes.

He thanked party supremo Sonia Gandhi for giving so much representation to the tiny hill state in both the UPA Government and the party organisation. There were two ministers in the Union Cabinet and now two senior leaders had been inducted in the party organisation at the national-level. Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes also spoke on the occasion.

Kangra, April 9
A team of the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), an autonomous body of the University Grants Commission (UGC), completed its two-day visit of the Government College, Dhaliara, and expressed its satisfaction over the facilities available in the college.

College Principal Dr RP Jindal said today that a three-member team, headed by Dr JJ Kattakayam from the University of Kerala, visited the college on April 6 and 7 to assess the potential of the college in order to grant UGC accreditation to it.

He said the team assessed the standards of all the departments, science and computer laboratories, the career counselling and placement cell. He further said that the team also evaluated the infrastructure and research performance of the faculty, and expressed its satisfaction after assessing the college on different parameters.

Sources said the team felt that the college had fulfilled the requisite criteria laid down by the NAAC for granting UGC accreditation.

Shimla, April 9
The skewed female sex ratio in the hill state notwithstanding, women voters still outnumber men voters in 12 out of the total 68 assembly segments as per the latest electoral rolls.

However, in 2003 the number of women-dominated segments was 20. The 2011 Census has revealed a marginal increase in the overall sex ratio from 968 to 974, but the electoral data presents a different picture. All five constituencies in Hamirpur district, which has the highest ratio of 1096 (down from 1099), have more women voters than men.

The Sujanpur segment has the highest female sex ratio of 1077 in the state, followed by Bhoranj (1076), Jaisinghpur (1072), Dharampur (1066) and Sulah (1052). Thus, there has been no significant change in the sex ratio.

However, Kangra district, which has the second highest sex ratio of 1013 (down from 1025), female voters now hold numerical advantage only in three out of the total 15 assembly segments.

Earlier, women outnumbered men in 12 out of the 16 assembly constituencies. Besides Jaisinghpur and Sulah, Jaswan (1005) also has more women voters.

In Mandi district, which has a sex ratio of 1012 (down from 1013), the number of women voters is higher in four out of the total 10 segments. Apart from Dharampur, Jogindernagar (1022), Mandi Sadar( 1015) and Sarakaghat (1009) have more women voters than men.

The tribal Kinnaur segment, which recorded the lowest ratio at 818 (down from 857) in the latest Census, has a better sex ratio of 942 as per the electoral rolls. The presence of a large number migrant workers deployed in various underconstruction hydroelectric projects, which usually do not get enrolled as voters, may have been responsible for the huge difference in the sex ratio. Similarly, in case of Lahaul-Spiti, having sex ratio of just 916 as per the Census, the sex ratio for the constituency, which also coincides with the district, is a healthy 992.

The Shimla constituency has the least sex ratio of 785, followed by Shilai (788), Paonta Sahib (836), Kusumpti (881), Kasauli (881), Doon (899), Naina Devi (902), Solan (903), Rampur and Nalagarh (910 each), Renuka (913), Pachhad (914) and Rampur (916). Thus, four out of the five constituencies in Solan district are among the first 10 segments with least sex ratio which is not surprising as the district has an overall sex ratio of 884.

Manali, April 9
Health Minister Dr Rajeev Bindal said that as many as 400 vacant posts of doctors will be filled shortly. Out of the 400 posts, 300 will be for regular appointments, and 100 will be filled on contractual basis.

Speaking on the inaugural function of the 23rd general house of the Himachal Medical Officers’ Association at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports here this afternoon, the minister said the Public Service Commission had already conducted examinations for 150 regular posts of doctors and the commission would also conduct examinations for the remaining 150 regular posts. He also said that the government had decided to bring a change in the contract policy, and had decided to fill these 100 posts through government contract.

Dr Bindal added that the government had taken a historic step to fill the gap of the postgraduate doctors by increasing the number of seats for Post Graduation from 39 to 81 at the Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, and had allotted 29 seats for Post Graduation at the Tanda Medical College.

Bilaspur, April 9
Two persons were killed in separate accidents in the district during the last 24 hours.

In one of the accidents, Prem Lal (40), of Jukhala village, was killed when his motorcycle was hit by a speeding vehicle on the NH-21, near Chadole, about 25 km from here last evening. The driver fled the scene of the accident along with his vehicle.

The body of the victim was brought to the Regional Hospital for postmortem, and was later handed over to the family.

In another accident, a minor, Sanjay Kumar, of Balli Jhaleda village, was killed here last evening when the tractor he was travelling on, suddenly overturned. The driver, however, escaped unhurt in the accident. The police registered a case and the body was brought here to the Regional Hospital for postmortem.

Chamba, April 9
The police has seized charas weighing 8 kg at a naka set up near Parel on the suburbs of Chamba town today.

According to a report, the policemen at the barrier intercepted Sheriff Mohd and on searching his luggage, they recovered the consignment from his possession.

The accused had been arrested and a case had also been registered against him under Section 20 of the ND & PS Act. — OC