Kullu, December 16
Two “benami prime land properties” worth over Rs 11 crore, owned by a former Deputy Prime Minister, the late Devi Lal, and his grandson Ajay Chautala, have come to light in the tourist towns of Kullu and Manali which violate Section 118 of the HP Land Ceiling and Land Reforms Act, 1972.

The Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, BM Nanta, has ordered to vest the two benami properties with the government with immediate effect.

“Both benami properties will be vested with the state as these were bought in violation of Section 118 of the HP Land Ceiling and Land Reforms Act. The government will initiate proceedings under Section 118 against the benami property holders,” he added.

The Deputy Commissioner’s order came on a plea of RTI activists, who had sought information on benami properties owned by the Chautalas of Haryana.

The case of benami property has been hanging fire in the revenue court of the Deputy Commissioner since June 23, 1997.

The Deputy Commissioner today found two properties in Fati Shilihar opposite the Kullu-Manali airport measuring 12 bighas, owned by Devi Lal, and 1.14 bighas of land in Mohal Manali and a hotel on it, owned by Ajay Chautala, as benami properties.

Devi Lal had executed the deed on “jamavandi” in 1978-79 when Shanta Kumar was the Chief Minister, sources said.

Devi Lal had bought 12 bighas in khasra Nos. 6321/5216, 6323/5217 and 6326/5224 in three areas in Fati Shilihar, Kothi Kot, and Kandi in Kullu tehsil in the name of Harikishan, a resident of Katrani, Kullu, the Deputy Commissioner said.

Ajay Chautala allegedly bought benami property - Regent Holiday Home and land measuring 19 biswas and 14 biswas in Mohal Manali on khasra Nos. 777 and 788 on March 14, 1991. He bought the properties in the name of Yashpal, a resident of Una.

The Deputy Commissioner found that the government had not given them permission under Section 118 of the Act.

Devi Lal had bought 12 bighas just opposite the Kullu-Manali airport in Jarad village in Fati Shilihar in Kullu tehsil on the left bank of the Beas. This prime property has a panoramic view of the valley overlooking the airport, the sources said. The value of both properties runs over Rs 11 crore as per rough estimates.

Though the hotel is still running in Manali, the 12 bighas of land in Kullu has no significant structure on it, the sources said. Counsel for the Chautalas said they would challenge the Deputy Commissioner’s order in the court of the Divisional Commissioner, Mandi.

Bilaspur, December 16
A large quantity of silt that makes its way into the 10,000-hectare Gobind Sagar, the country’s largest fishing pond, every year has spelt doom for fish breeding grounds over of the years. The fish production in the reservoir has nosedived by nearly 50 per cent in the past five years.

This year alone, the fish production has declined by 150 tonnes as compared to last year. If the silt discharge into the Gobind Sagar continues unabated, the time is not far when the state’s fishing pond will be pushed to extinction, caution biologists.

They say the fresh layer of silt destroys fish habitats as the natural algal growth, the main natural feed of fish, is covered by the silt every year.

More worrisome is the fact that neither the state government nor the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) have done anything to check the silt discharge to revive the fish breeding grounds.

Millions of tonnes of silt enters the Gobind Sagar every year. During the monsoons, the silt enters the Sutlej due to soil erosion and because of the construction of dams upstream like Karcham Wangtu in Kinnaur and Kol Dam near the Mandi-Bilaspur border, the biologists add.

The other villains are mining sites of cement plants at Darlaghat, Bagha and Barmana, and PWD roads being built in the catchment areas of the Sutlej and its tributaries like the Seer, the Gambhar and the Sukhad. These feeding streams of the Sutlej carry huge loads of silt into the Gobind Sagar.

Though Himachal boasts of a fish production of more than 60 kg per hectare, it is falling rapidly and has come down from its peak of 100 kg per hectare.

Last year the fish production stood at 600 tonnes, but this year it is about 448 tonnes and may not exceed 550 tonnes by March, the closing of the year. The fish production had hit its peak of about 1,000 tonnes about five years ago.

More than 22 cooperatives of fishermen feed on the reservoir. Fishermen are feeling the heat of progressive degradation of the fishing breeding grounds. More than 60 lakh fingerlings of carp (fish) have been released into Gobind Sagar this year, fisheries officials said.

The Director, Fisheries, Dr BD Sharma, said silt appeared to be the main reason behing the falling fish production in the Gobind Sagar.

Shimla, December 16
Considering the controversy over the change of police uniform from khaki to blue, the government today clarified that the decision was within its purview while the request for a switchover of the attire of IPS officers was pending with the Centre.

The government clarification today came in the wake of media reports appearing every now and then that the IPS officers were donning the blue uniform in violation of the law. With the government today admitting that its request for allowing a change of uniform of IPS officers was pending before the Centre, it has been established that those wearing blue were doing it without the Union Home Ministry’s nod.

The Himachal Government’s request for a change of uniform has already been turned down once by the Home Ministry which clarified that it was only the Centre which could change the uniform of IPS officers and asked Himachal to stick to the khaki uniform. An official spokesperson said the request for change of uniform had been taken up with the Home Ministry to allow it on the analogy of the paramilitary forces where IPS officers while on deputation wear a specific uniform.

“Detailed discussions have been held by the Principal Secretary (Home) and the Director-General of Police with the Union Home Secretary and a favourable decision is expected,” said an official spokesperson. He clarified that the move to change the uniform had been taken after taking into consideration the view of both police and other organisations. 

Shimla, December 16
Concerned over the fast-depleting reserves of the chilgoza pine forests the government has decided to formulate a 10-year action for the conservation, regeneration and sustainable management of the endangered species.

Pinus gerardiana for botanists and commonly known as neoza pine the nut- bearing tree species is being pushed towards extinction due to reckless harvesting and the over-extraction of the edible seed. The conservation of the species in the state is vital for its survival as it is found only in the narrow dry temperate belt extending from Afghanistan to Himachal Pradesh. With 2100 hectares still under the species the state accounts for almost 50 per cent of the total chilgoza forests. The total neoza production has come down to around 500 quintals.

Much in demand for its unique and rather strong flavour and nutritional value, chilgoza commands handsome prices in the dry fruit market. The ever-increasing demand and dwindling supply have been constantly pushing up the prices.

What bothers conservationists the most is the fact that the existing trees are mostly in the age group of 75 to 150 years and there are very few young trees (up to 25 years) in their natural habitats in Kinnaur, Pangi and Bharmour. A study conducted by Delhi-based economic anthropologist Rinki Sarkar for the Forest Department last year revealed that the pressure on the pine trees has increased manifold due to the increasing value of the edible chilgoza seeds. Five decades ago the seeds cost Rs 10 per kg but now they are now being sold for Rs 500 per kg.

The regeneration has been affected as the local people have given a go-by to the traditional good harvesting practices, which ensured natural regeneration of the species all these years. The local right holders were hiring the services of contractors for the collection of seed. GS Goraya, Chief Conservator of Forests, Non-Timber Forest Produce and Biodiversity, who is formulating the action plan, points out that while plucking the pine cones part branches were also being taken away which affected the cone formation next year. However, thankfully a few inaccessible cones were still left on the trees which could help regenerate a favourable environment and protection from birds and animals was ensured.

The plan was being prepared after studying all past efforts to regenerate and conserve the neoza forests and it would take care of not only the technical but also the socio-economic aspects to help promote the sustainable harvesting of the nut by involving the local people. They were unaware of the harmful impact of the bad harvesting practices being followed by them. The plan would be implemented during 2012-2021.

Dharamsala, December 16
Celebrating the 1971 victory over Pakistan, the GOC of the Rising Star Corps, Lt-Gen AK Choudhary, paid homage to the 124 martyrs of Himachal at Shaheed Smarak in Dharamsaala today.

Speaking on the occasion, he said 40 years ago, December 16, 1971, was one of the most glorious days in the history of independent India when Lt-Gen AK Niazi of Pakistan with 91,000 soldiers and paramilitary forces surrendered in front of Lt-Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, the then Eastern Army Commander. This single largest surrender ever in the annals of military history of the world paved the way for the birth of a new nation, Bangladesh, he said.

The function was organised by the Martyrs Memorial Service and Development Society, Dharamsala.

The General said on this glorious day, the Army paid tributes to soldiers for their grit, courage and valiant supreme sacrifice.

“We owe our prosperity and independence to these brave hearts and therefore will leave no stone unturned in looking after the welfare of their families so that more and more youth are encouraged to join the services,” he said.

HAMIRPUR: Ex-servicemen on Friday commemorated the Indian Army’s victory over the Pakistan forces in the 1971 war as Vijay Diwas by organising a programme at Hamirpur.

Bagpiper’s band from the Dogra Regiment was specially invited to perform on the occasion.

The ex-servicemen marched from Bhota Chowk to Gandhi Chowk, accompanied by the band, where family members of Army personnel from Hamirpur district, who had sacrificed their lives in this war, were honoured.

A Vir Chakra recipient, Col Punjab Singh (retd), one of the Army commanders of the 1971 war, was the chief guest at the function.

He shared his experiences of this war with the audience.

He expressed his concern on the Chinese army’s build-up along the Indian border.

Later, ex-servicemen paid floral tributes at the statue of Capt Mridul Sharma, who was killed in the Kargil war.

Dharamsala, December 16
Repeated cancellation of semester examinations of the MBA course in Central University, Himachal Pradesh, has students perturbed.

Students while talking to The Tribune on condition of anonymity said that till date three papers had been changed or rescheduled due the alleged leak of question papers.

They alleged that initially the examination of the Financial Institutions subject was rescheduled. There were rumours that the question paper of the examination was leaked. Thereafter, the management of Central University rescheduled the 25 marks objective-type part of the examination. The 75 marks subjective part of the paper was not touched.

The university management should have rescheduled the entire examination in case it suspected the leak of the question paper. There was no point in rescheduling only the objective part of the examination.

The students further alleged that in the examination of the Business Environment subject, the question paper was changed in between the examination which created trouble for the students. In the examination of the Ethics subject, the answers of the objective-type questions were highlighted, they alleged.

The students said if the university was rescheduling or changing the examination papers, certain teachers who were setting the papers were at fault. Action should be initiated against the guilty officials or faculty members concerned, they said.

The Controller of Examinations of Central University, Yoginder Verma, said he had received phone calls regarding the leak of question papers of the said semester examinations of the MBA course.

As an immediate measure, he said, he changed or rescheduled the question papers. However, later inquiries revealed that there was no proof of leak of question papers.

The students had to face trouble due to the rescheduling of papers as extra caution was taken by the university in case the report of leak of the question papers proved to be correct, he said.

He said action would be taken against officials if allegations were found to be correct. However, so far there was no proof regarding the leak of the question papers, Verma said.

Mandi, December 16
Over 1,272 computer teachers teaching IT education in 968 government senior secondary schools in the state today locked horns with the state government after it rejected their demand for the regularisation of their services on the grounds that “they are employees of a private company to which the Education Department has outsourced IT education since 2001”.

The computers teachers today held a statewide protest raising anti-government slogans and demanding regularisation of their services.

They said they had been teaching IT in schools to students of classes IX to XII and were doing other duties like their other government counterparts, but they were getting only Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per month.

The IT teachers have upped their ante as the Education Department has advertised 970 posts of IT teacher in schools for the first time.

They demanded that the department should fill the posts by regularising the services of IT teachers who fulfilled the educational criteria and had put in eight years of service.

The state president of the Computer Shikshak Sangh, Kulbushan Verma, claimed that the government had signed MoUs with different private companies since 2001 in which the principal employer was the government.

The teachers demanded that the department should ensure that the private company also contributed to their PF contribution according to the rules.

Rejecting the IT teachers’ demands, the Director, Education, Dr OP Sharma, said the government had examined their demands but they did not fulfil the criteria. IT teachers were private companies’ employees and could not be regularised.

“We have asked them to apply for the 970 posts advertised for the first time,” he added.

Solan, December 16
Investors in the state’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh are facing a tough time with high interest rates adversely hitting expansion and sales registering a steep low in the last quarter.

Sunil Sood, promoter of Homeland Mall in Baddi, who was endeavouring to bring more brands, said the policy of financial institutions to shrink credits had forced the investors to keep their expansion plans at bay. While this would have an adverse bearing on employment as the existing ventures were facing a cash crunch, the expansion had been badly hit.

Though a number of investors had planned to expand their units before March 2012 when the income tax benefits of the central industrial package would lapse, the high rates of interest had forced them to abandon their plans.

This fact had also come to the fore in a recent CII Northern Region Business Outlook Survey which pointed out that rising interest rates had an adverse impact on investment with 89 per cent of the respondents failing to increase investment due to the rising interest rates. Of the 89 per cent, 38 per cent had reported a decline in the investment.

Pharmaceutical units, which dominated this industrial belt, also faced a sharp decline in profits in the second quarter with margins declining sharply. Since a majority of the units were small-scale ventures, which were running on loans, the high interest rates had hit these units the most.

Sanjay Guleria, president, Himachal Drug Manufacturers Association, said the results of the second quarter were disappointing and the profits dipped by as much as 10 to 12 per cent in the pharmaceutical industry. Though the second quarter of every financial year fares better than the other three, the dismal results of the second quarter would have an overall impact on the profit margins.

Exports had also been hit hard with almost 5 to 6 per cent decline in volumes, confided an investor.

Shimla, December 16
The initiative taken by RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya to seek justice for the families of the victims of untraced murders has yielded results with the state Police Department carrying out a review of 838 such cases and delineating steps to be taken in different categories of cases.

It has been decided that the superintendents of police concerned will personally monitor the cases where the victim has been identified and the accused has also been identified but not arrested. Special quarterly campaigns will be launched to apprehend the culprits. Details of the proclaimed offenders in such cases will be entered separately in register number 4 at police stations.

Cases where the victims have been identified but the accused have not been identified will be, after the submission of the final report, transferred to the special investigating units which will make efforts to trace the culprits for the next three years. The SPs and the DSPs concerned will personally monitor the cases and file quarterly reports giving details of the efforts made.

Cases where both the victim and the accused have not been identified, photographs of the bodies will be published in the criminal intelligence gazette and circulated in all states. Henceforth, the photographs of unidentified bodies will be put on the website of the department. Further, the DNA profile will be collected and kept permanently for future use. The district police chiefs will submit a casewise report every year in the first week of January and monitoring will continue for five years after the final report.

The government set up a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to look into unsolved murder cases after Bhattcharya raised the issue on the basis of information obtained by him in September 2010 according to which there were 189 such cases. 

Chamba, December 16
The police has nabbed three members of a gang of thieves at Paonta Sahib suspected to be involved in the murder of a Chamba taxi driver.

A crowd of taxi operators gathered here today and demanded strict legal action against those involved in Deepak’s murder. The suspects had been brought by the police to the Chamba police station for producing in court.

The SP, Chamba, Madhu Sudan Sharma, said cases under Sections 302, 392 and 34, IPC, had been registered against the suspects at the Chamba police station in connection with the cold-blooded murder of taxi driver Deepak.

“A gang of criminals has been operating in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other neighbouring states for a long time”, the SP said.

The SP said that on December 3, a taxi of Deepak had been hired by three persons from Chamba to Rampur, but he did not come back to Chamba.

The SP said that on December 14 the Punjab police reported that an unidentified body had been found in a canal near Kiratpur Sahib.A team of the Chamba police accompanied by Deepak’s father went to Kiratpur Sahib where the body of Deepak was identified.

The arrested persons had been remanded in police custody for eight days, DSP (Police Headquarters) Kulbhushan Verma said.