Shimla, October 18
The Cabinet today directed the officials concerned to implement the latest Supreme Court judgment, declaring the transfer of land through the general power of attorney (GPA) as illegal and detect all violations of Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister PK Dhumal here today. The Cabinet decided to direct all registrars and sub-registrars to implement the judgment, declaring the GPA illegal in letter and spirit. The move is being considered significant as several benami land deals have taken place in Himachal, using the GPA to circumvent Section 118, which bars outsiders from purchasing land in the state without permission.

It has also been made clear that any violation of the law laid down by the Supreme Court with regard to the GPA and the provisions of the Land Reforms Act, would be the personal responsibility of the registrar and sub-registrar concerned.

In another important decision aimed at checking the monkey menace effectively, the Cabinet today decided to set up 25 new sterilisation centres. These would be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and manned by trained manpower to achieve the sterilisation target of two lakh monkeys by June 30 next year.

These centres will be run under the supervision of the wildlife wing and a cash incentive of Rs 500 per monkey captured would also be given. People feeding monkeys on roadsides will be dealt with sternly as per the prevalent legal provisions.

The Cabinet also approved enhancement in the daily allowance of Home Guard volunteers from Rs 170 to Rs 200, benefiting 8,000 volunteers while those deployed in tribal areas will get 25 per cent additional allowance.

With a view to preserving the rich cultural heritage of the state, it has been decided to declare the Manali Winter Carnival as a national-level festival, the Dasehra festival of Jaisinghpur in Kangra district a state-level function, Fateh Diwas in Nadaun, Rishi Markandeya Krishak Vikas Avam Pashupalak Sayar Mela in Bilaspur, Piplu Mela of Bangana in Una and Ekadasi Mela, Devthi, Majhgaon, in Sirmour, as district-level fairs.

It also granted approval for filing various posts in the Health, Ayurveda, Education and Civil Supplies departments. The Cabinet approved issuance of the Letter of Intent in favour of the Marketing Times Education Foundation, New Delhi, to set up Dhauladhar Hills University in Mandi district.

Shimla, October 18
Taking a serious note on the issue of misuse of power by officers and forcing Class IV employees to work in their family orchards/farms, the state high court today directed the Director (Horticulture), Director (Agriculture), Engineer-in-Chief (PWD), Forest and IPH departments to inform the court as to how many officers were posted in such divisions where they themselves having their orchard/farmhouses or owned by their family members.

A division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Karol passed this order on a petition filed by a Class IV employee of the Horticulture Department, Nahan division, alleging that the deputy director of the department had directed him to work at his personal farmhouse.

He further alleged that there were so many labourers who had also been forced to work on his personal farmhouse.

The court observed that the Class IV employees attached with officers were working in their personal orchards.

Dharamsala, October 18
Tibetans living in exile here held a candlelight march at McLeodganj today evening after reports about the death of yet another Tibetan due to self-immolation in Tibet.

The Tibetans alleged that this time a nun torched her body in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet. Tenzin Wangmo, around 20 years of age, set herself on fire at around 1 pm yesterday in the Ngaba region of eastern Tibet.

Tenzin Wangmo immolated herself on a road near her monastery, the Mamae Dechen Choekhorling Nunnery, about 3 km away from Ngaba County in Tibet. She is the ninth Tibetan to have committed self-immolation this year. The Dalai Lama will hold special prayers tomorrow at his main temple in McLeodganj for Tibetans who immolated themselves. According to a press note issued here, Tenzin Wangmo was engulfed in flames as she marched on the streets for nearly eight minutes, raising slogans calling for the return of the Dalai Lama from exile and religious freedom in Tibet. Tenzin Wangmo allegedly died on the spot immediately.

Nuns from the Mamae nunnery carried Tenzin Wangmo’s body to the nunnery and despite repeated warnings from Chinese security personnel, they refused to give the possession of the body.

The Chinese authorities have given the nuns an ultimatum to either hand over the deceased’s body or bury Tenzin Wangmo’s body by tonight.

Dharamsala, October 18
Students of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh have complained against the lack of faculty in different departments started by the institute in the past one and a half years since its inception.

A student from the department of economics, while talking to The Tribune on the phone on condition of anonymity, alleged that he had entered the third semester this year. “In the past one and a half years, just one professor has been teaching all classes in the department of economics. Sometimes we are being forced to take classes with the first semester students, which is humiliating,” he alleged.

The students alleged that initially 15 students had taken admission to the department of economics at the university in Dharamsala. However, due to poor management, six students had left the department. Just nine students had reached the third semester level.

Students have also alleged that there are no teachers in five departments of the university. The departments of physics, bio-informatics, IT, mass communication and environment science have no permanent faculty. The university authorities are running all the said courses on an ad hoc basic.

Vice-Chancellor of the university Furqan Qamar admitted that there was a shortage of permanent faculty. He said the shortage of permanent faculty had been caused due to a delay in the appointment of “visitor’s nominee” in selection committees formed for the recruitment of permanent faculty. The visitor’s nominee is a representative of the President of India, who is the Chancellor of the university.

He, however, said the process was being expedited and the permanent faculty would be recruited soon.

The VC said to make for the delay in the recruitment of permanent faculty, they have hired guest faculty and had taken some faculty on deputation from other government departments.

On the allegation that third-semester students were being forced to take classes with first-semester students, he said it was highly unlikely. It was only possible in case students of both semesters shared some common course, he said.

The students are, however, alleging that the university has started a large number of courses in haste. It should have recruited the faculty before starting the new courses.

“If the faculty is recruited next year, we would be on the verge of completing our postgraduate degree. Then how will we benefit from it,” said a student of the economics department.

Though the process for the recruitment of permanent faculty in the Central University may start soon, it is likely to face a shortage of faculty at higher positions like Associate Professor and Professor ranks. The number of applications received by the university, for various faculty positions also illustrates the fact.

In the department of business management, the university has received two applications for posts of Associate Professor. However, for the rank of assistant professor, it has received hundreds of applications.

Shimla, October 18
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau may find it difficult to pin down Union Minister Virbhadra Singh in a case pertaining to the sale of Himalayan Fertilisers land at Nalagarh, as the Law Department has observed that individuals cannot be held responsible for decisions taken collectively by the Cabinet.

The Law Department and the Advocate-General, in their opinion sought by the Vigilance Bureau, have said that since the decision to allow M/s Goodwill Industries to sell the 65 bighas of land bought by it for setting up an industrial unit in Nalgarh was taken by the Cabinet, it will not be possible to hold individuals responsible for it.

“We are still examining the case and in all probability the industrialist who had sold the land further without seeking permission under Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act would be held guilty,” the Advocate-General added. He said the Vigilance had received the reply from the Home Department, which had the opinion of the Secretary, Law, and the Advocate-General.

The Vigilance Bureau had registered a case on January 23, 2009, against M/s Goodwill Industries for selling 65 bighas and 19 biswas of land bought from the state government for setting up an industrial unit to another party, causing a loss of over Rs 4 crore to the state exchequer. It was not just the issue of financial loss but the land was transferred to the private party without asking them to seek permission under Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, which is mandatory for non-Himachalis purchasing land in the hill state.

In fact, permission to allow M/s Goodwill Industries to sell the land further was given by the Cabinet headed by the then Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh. The condition of seeking exemption under Section 118 for the purchase of land by outsiders in Himachal was also not imposed.

The bureau had also deliberated upon the idea of registering a case against the entire Cabinet but after seeking legal opinion this move was dropped. The bureau had also sought individual replies from all ministers of the then Virbhadra Cabinet about the sale of land. Only two of them replied.

M/s Goodwill had bought the land for Rs 3.36 crore from the General Industries Corporation of the state government, which had its unit, Himalayan Fertilisers, at the site. M/s Goodwill sold off the land bought in 2004 to another private company, M/s India Card Closing Company, for Rs 7.51 crore in 2007, though they had bought it to set up an industrial unit there.

Hamirpur, October 18
Dr Rajnish Shrivastav today took over as the new Director of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hamirpur.

The last incumbent on the post had quit after the expiry of his term in November 2010. Senior Professor of the institute Dr RL Sharma was holding the post of NIT Director since then.

Dr Shrivastav was working as the Director of NIT, Jamshedpur, for the past three years before joining here.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) had appointed Dr Shrivastav as the new Director of NIT, Hamirpur, for a period of five years, some time ago.

Taking over of a regular Director in NIT here will also pave the way for taking several important pending policy decisions.

Some of the important decisions which had been hanging fire include recruitment of faculty members for about 100 vacant posts and appointment of a regular registrar in NIT.

Shimla, October 18
The government has elevated Vijay Uppal, Chief Architect of the PWD, as Architect-in-Chief. He is the first architect in North India to have the honour of holding a position on a par with the Engineer-in-Chief. The post has been re-designated as Architect-in-Chief as a personal measure to Uppal in appreciation of his contribution. It will revert back to Chief Architect with his retirement next year.

He was awarded for designing solar passive and energy efficient buildings in the state. There are about 40 buildings in the planning and construction stage, which have been designed on solar passive principles. He was also conferred the Vishvakarma Award by the Construction Industry Development Council, a body constituted under the Planning Commission of India, and the Commemorative Trophy by A3 Foundation, Chandigarh, for his lifetime achievement in the field of architecture. — TNS