Dharamsala, January 23
The human rights situation in Tibet has deteriorated as the Chinese government has “increased its repressive policies towards the political, religious and cultural rights of the Tibetan people”.

These allegations have been levelled in a 108-page annual report of the Tibetan Centre of Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), an NGO based at Dharamsala, which was released here today.

The report says the Chinese government follows highly repressive policies in ethnic minority areas such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.

The situation throughout Tibet remained tense in 2011 following a massive crackdown on protests that swept the plateau in 2008. The Chinese security forces maintain a heavy presence and the authorities continue to restrict access and travel to Tibetan areas, particularly for journalists and foreign visitors, the report says.

The report further alleges that the Chinese government continues to build a “new socialist countryside” by relocating the Tibet population, including nomads.

Briefing mediapersons today on the situation inside Tibet, executive director of the TCHRD Tsering Tsomo and assistant director and researcher Jampa Monlam said 2011 witnessed increasing tension in Tibet.

They alleged that religious education was heavily proscribed in Tibet. Monks and nuns were unable to travel, making it difficult for them to seek education in Buddhist concepts which was not available at their home monasteries. All but three monasteries had undergone the strict patriotic re-education programme, which forced monks and nuns to denounce the Dalai Lama, they alleged.

They further alleged that the educational atmosphere fostered by the government stifled critical thinking, innovation and opportunities for learning. It closely monitored activities in schools and universities, and limited the use of the Tibetan language as a medium of education.

Chinese was already being introduced in rural pre-schools in an attempt to relegate the Tibetan language to a mere subject. The Tibetan culture was one step closer to extinction if its language was rendered irrelevant.

On the economic development in Tibet, the reports says that while economic indicators in Tibet sometimes look good, the benefits have largely been pocketed by Chinese migrants and Chinese companies and not Tibetans, who are being increasingly marginalised in their own land.

The report describes the forcible relocation of Tibetan nomads as a trick and says it ignores the fact that since ages nomads have been an integral part of the natural environment.

The report says that 12 Tibetans set themselves on fire within a span of nine months in 2011. The incidents of self-immolation are symptomatic of the greater plight that Tibetans find themselves in throughout the Tibetan plateau. The report says that China refuses to take any responsibility for the incidents of self-immolation. It has instead increased oppression in Tibet and continues to violate its international human rights obligation.

Shimla, January 23
With the last date for filing of objections and suggestions on the Draft Shimla Development Plan expiring today, the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department will initiate the process of personal hearing before finalising the document for seeking Cabinet approval.

Sources in the department said about 15 objections and suggestions had been received from individuals and associations, which would now be taken up for personal hearing once the compilation process was completed. “The moment the process of personal hearing before the Director, TCP, is completed, the Draft Shimla Development Plan will be finalised and sent to the government for Cabinet approval,” said an official.

It is almost five years after the Shimla Development Plan was finalised by the Town and Country Planning Department that it has been notified for public objections and suggestions, the last date for which expired today. It is expected that the important document will get the Cabinet nod the moment it is finalised by the department.

For the past over three decades, the state capital was being developed on the basis of an interim development plan as the Shimla Development Plan had been awaiting approval. Though the document had been prepared after several rounds of deliberations with planners, architects, environmentalists and various voluntary organisations almost three years ago, it had been awaiting the government nod.

The thrust of the plan is to decongest the town, especially the core area by shifting out various facilities like the grain market, coal and wood depots and the vegetable market. It also talks of developing satellite townships of Ghanahatti, Vaknaghat and Junga so that Shimla does not get more congested.

Another thing that the planners intend to do is to hold a survey of constructions on slopes, which are susceptible to hazards and the measures needed to avert mishaps. The Plan also talks of enforcing strict restrictions on the construction activity within the city and preserving and extending the green areas within the town, which have been depleting on account of haphazard growth.

Shimla, January 23
The switchover to e-governance and the imposition of entry tax will to a large extent help mitigate the impact of economic slowdown on the tax revenue during the current financial year.

The hill state is not likely to maintain the all-time high growth of 34 per cent in the tax revenue achieved during 2010-11, but the Excise and Taxation Department will still achieve the target of Rs 3,574 crore set by the government for the current year. The trend for the first three quarters indicates a slowdown in the VAT growth with the overall tax collection reaching Rs 2,650 crore as compared to Rs 2,100 crore last year, an increase of 24 per cent. This includes an amount of Rs 120 crore collected by way of entry tax on industrial inputs. The impact of slowdown has been confined to Solan, Una and Bilaspur districts where the industry is concentrated.

Last year VAT, excise duty and luxury tax amounted to Rs 3,045 crore, up from the previous year’s Rs 2,274 crore. The normal average growth has been around 22 per cent and the previous highest growth was 26 per cent after VAT was introduced in 2005. Last year the entry tax brought an additional revenue of about Rs 80 crore and this year the amount is likely to cross Rs 200 crore. Similarly, the revenue from the sale of liquor will go up from last year’s Rs 580 crore to Rs 710 crore. However, there has been hardly a 15 per cent growth in the luxury tax so far and it is not likely to improve.

The tax growth declined sharply when the global economic meltdown made an impact on the state too and as a result the tax collections grew only by a meagre 14 per cent in 2008-09. However, the Excise and Taxation Department is expecting an overall growth of around 27 per cent as more revenue is collected in the last quarter of the year in the normal course.

The tax collections are bound to improve further with the rollout of some more IT-enabled applications to facilitate the switchover to e-tax administration which will enable the department to detect evasion and ensure better tax compliance. It has made it mandatory for all dealers having an annual turnover in excess of Rs 1 crore to file returns electronically from 2010-11. The dealers having a turnover of less than this amount will also have the option of filing e-returns, but it will not be mandatory for them. Similarly, e-declaration has been made mandatory for dealers conducting inter-state sales and exports, and making inter-state purchases with a minimum annual turnover of Rs 1 crore.

Solan, January 23
The Paonta Sahib-based Mankind Pharma has proposed to open a multi-speciality hospital at Paonta Sahib to serve the local population. Since the area is bereft of any such hospital, Mankind Pharma has come forward to provide better health facilities to residents.

The management of the unit has moved an application before the district administration to grant them 20 bighas for which a detailed proposal would be submitted within a month.

As per the initial proposal, the hospital will have seven specialities, including skin, general medicine, general surgery, gynaecology, paediatrics, dental surgery and ophthalmology. Nominal charges that would be less than IGMC are proposed to be charged from the locals for various investigations. A 50-bedded hospital is proposed to be set up by Mankind Pharma.

GM, District Industries Centre, GS Chauhan, while thanking the unit said the hospital would go a long way in serving the locals. A patch of land had been selected and inspected near Dental College with the help of Municipal Committee officials and local leaders for the purpose.

Sanjay Singhal, president of the local Municipal Council, said the proposed hospital would not only serve Paonta Sahib, but also people from the adjoining Shillai and Renuka constituencies as a large number of cases were being at present referred to Chandigarh and Dehradun in the absence of adequate facilities in the local hospital here.

Since there were little facilities for carrying out surgeries in local hospitals such cases were being referred to other places. Accident victims will also benefit from this move.

Shimla, January 23
The CPM today staged a demonstration outside the Public Works Department (PWD) office in protest against its failure in opening roads to the upper Shimla area for vehicular traffic even after 15 days.

CPM activists also submitted a memorandum to the engineer-in-chief seeking prompt action for opening vehicular traffic to Rohru and Rampur and clearing the link roads, which are closed due to snow.

“People are facing difficulties in commuting as most of the roads to the upper parts of the district as well as link roads have not been opened for vehicular traffic,” said Dr Onkar Shad, secretary, Shimla District Committee of the CPM.

He said the Shimla-Rohru highway was still closed and people were travelling all the way via Uttarakhand and the closure of the Shimla-Nankhari road was also causing inconvenience to them.

“A majority of the link roads in the Kotkhai, Theog, Rohru, Rampur and Chopal regions are closed with there being no signs of any improvement,” Shad remarked.

He urged the PWD to take steps to open these roads as residents were finding it hard to commute to and from their homes for work.

Shimla, January 23
President of the Shimla (Urban) Youth Congress Akash Saini and general secretary of the Shimla (Rural) Youth Congress Amit Kohli have urged the Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to review the decision under which the election of Vikramaditya, son of Union Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was elected president of the state Youth Congress by a record margin, was set aside.

Addressing a joint press conference here today, the two leaders alleged that Vikramaditya was a victim of a deep-rooted conspiracy by detractors in the Congress who wanted to settle political scores with the Union Minister.

They asserted that the FAME (Foundation for Advanced Management of Elections) had handed out a one-sided decision on the basis of wrong and distorted facts placed before it by interested parties.

Vikramaditya was not given any opportunity to explain his case, which was against the tenets of natural justice.

The two leaders expressed full faith in Rahul Gandhi and they were confident that he would undo the injustice perpetrated on Vikramditya, who polled far more votes than the aggregate votes secured by the other 14 candidates together.

They also planned to meet him and tell the whole story to him. The most shocking part was that Vikramaditya had been barred from contesting elections to be held afresh, which sacked of a conspiracy.

They would urge him to review the decision and ensure that he was not debarred.

Hamirpur, January 23
The government has provided the drinking water facility in every government school of the state through the Irrigation and Public Health Department.

Now, every government school in the state is being supplied drinking water either through pipes or through hand pumps installed on the school premises or near the school.

The government has submitted an affidavit in this regard in the Supreme Court informing it that every government school has been provided the drinking water facility.

Information in this regard was sought by the Supreme Court following an order directing all state governments to provide the drinking water facility in every government school.

The apex court directions came on a public interest litigation. The court had expressed concern as many states were not providing the drinking water facility in government schools.

Engineer-in-Chief of the IPH Department RK Sharma said, “The state government has already provided the drinking water facility in more than 15,000 government schools and has also filed an affidavit in this regard in the Supreme Court.”

Kangra, January 23
INA freedom fighters and associates of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose today expressed anguish over the prevailing scenario in the country. They gave a call to spiritual leaders to help in bringing country out of this mess.

Babar Singh (87), an INA freedom fighter, who went to different jails of India and Multan

during the British rule, celebrated the 115th birth anniversary of Netaji today along with his family members at his residence. Babar Singh said, “We never thought India would be witnessing corruption and scams. Need is to save this great country from politicians.” He gave a call to the spiritual leadership of the country to fight corruption and expose those who were involved in scams.

Hoshiyar Singh (96) of Brar Dehra village, another INA freedom fighter, who had fought British forces, in a choked voice said, “Why don’t I die before seeing all this corruption, nepotism and scams in this country. I never fought against British for this India.”

Yudbhir Singh Katoch (88), another INA freedom fighter, said remembered Netaji as a true believer of equality.

Rattan Chand, another INA freedom fighter from Charri village, said Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was an outstanding leader of the freedom movement who took the struggle for independence beyond the Indian borders.

He said the best tribute to that great leader would be that Indian politics got purified and a new generation of honest and patriotic leadership took over.

Nurpur, January 23
In order to check inter-state smuggling of illicit liquor, weapons and movement of anti-social elements in the wake of Assembly elections round the corner in the neighbouring Punjab state, an emergency meeting was conducted by the observers of the Election Commission (EC) of India here today with senior police officials of Kangra and Pathankot districts.

Election observers MR Pratap, IG, Andhra Pradesh, and Dr Elangovan, Secretary, Transport Department, Kerala, who convened a meeting with Kangra SP Daljeet Thakur and Pathankot SP Dr Surinder Kalia, conveyed the guidelines of the EC relating to strengthening of the police patrolling in the bordering area of Punjab where elections have been scheduled for January 30.

The poll observers told The Tribune that free and fair polling in Punjab was being ensured following the guidelines of the EC.

They said so far around 2,000 persons having licensed weapons had deposited their weapons with the Pathankot police and a strict vigil was being kept on anti-social elements, fake currency and illicit liquor.

Meanwhile, the Kangra SP while disclosing the police strategy formulated under the guidelines of the EC told mediapersons that the police had started a special checking campaign today at all five exit barriers - Kandwal, Badroya, Toki , Kathgarh and Terrace - in the district.

“Additional police force is being sent for the purpose. The police nakas are being set up on these barriers and police patrolling will further be intensified in border areas on January 27 onwards and movement of people with licensed weapons is also being restricted on January 30,” he said.

Thakur added that a special drive to curb the menace of bootlegging was also being launched in border areas. He reiterated that the Kangra police would implement all guidelines of the EC in letter and spirit.

Chamba, January 23
In the aftermath of the unprecedented blizzard in the Chamba region last week, several far-off snowbound areas of the district have been facing power blackout for the 17th day today, according to reports reaching at the district headquarters town of Chamba.

However, officials were making all-out efforts to restore the electricity supply in the difficult mountainous terrains of the district, the reports revealed.

Meanwhile, Akhil Bharatiya Gaddi Janjatiya Vikas Samiti president Lalit Thakur today submitted a forceful representation to Himachal Chief Minister PK Dhumal through the Deputy Commissioner of Chamba to resume power generation on the three mini-hydroelectric projects as early as possible. The power produced from these projects could be utilised during the snowy weather when power supply remained cut off.

Thakur said these powerhouses were 450-KW Bhuri Singh powerhouse, 2-MW KCM powerhouse located on the outskirts of Chamba and 3-MW Holi powerhouse in the Bharmour tribal area. He said these powerhouses had been shut down for renovation. As a sequel, inhabitants of the region had to face difficulties in the absence of electricity supply.

Thakur said the interior Preena, Kuned and Kilod panchayats had still been facing the the problem of blackout for the past 17 days continuously.

He demanded that accountability should be fixed for the lapse in the electricity supply during the past over two weeks in the region.

Mandi, January 23
After almost eight years, over 14,000 depositors of Mandi Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd (MUCBL), which was shut down in 2004 by the RBI, are set to heave a sigh of relief as the RBI has assured the bank management that it will ease up restrictions to restart its normal functioning by March.

Though the bank management has registered cases against 196 defaulters, Rs 4 crore is still to be recovered from them.

Many defaulters have moved court and the cases are pending. However, the court has asked the defaulters to deposit 20 per cent to 50 per cent of the loan amount with the bank, sources said.

The RBI’s assurance came after a team from its regional office, Chandigarh, inspected the financial position of the bank and assessed the progress done by the MUCBL regarding the revival plan.

Talking to The Tribune here today MUCBL administrator-cum-assistant registrar, cooperative society, Mandi, Natra Singh Guleria, said, “The RBI team submitted a positive report on the financial heath of the bank and we expect that the RBI will lift restrictions so that the bank can restart normal functioning by March. The bank today has a profit of Rs 15 lakh and Rs 1.53 crore in its current accounts in different banks.”

Chief Executive Officer, MUCBL, SC Paul said the NPAs had been brought down from Rs 23 crore in 2004 to Rs 5.82 crore. He said a revival plan was submitted to the RBI in December requesting it to resume the normal functioning of the bank.

Guleria said the financial position of the bank was now conducive for normal functioning. 

Bilaspur, January 23
The District Brahmin Kalyan Sabha here has urged the government to constitute the HP State Brahmin Kalyan Board in the state so that this can help this community to come on its feet and not be left behind other communities of the state.

A meeting held at Ghumarwin today, presided over by district president Sita Ram Sharma, also adopted a resolution demanding that the Bhagwan Parshu Ram Jayanti be declared a gazetted holiday in the state.

All speakers, including state delegates Jai Krishan Sharma, Gita Ram Sharma and Uttam Chand, were critical of the present caste-based reservation policy of the Central Government as this was only perpetuating the age-old caste system due to its having developed into a “vested interest of certain sections” while actually this reservation was introduced to wipe out the caste system.

The meeting adopted another resolution asking the government to remove disparity among communities and introduce reservation on the basis of the financial position of a family, irrespective of its caste.

Several speakers urged the Brahmin community to get united to get its due justice in a democratic system and force “selfish politicians” to change this policy that was only introduced for 10 years by makers of the Constitution, including Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

Prominent among those who were present in this meeting included vice-president Hira Lal Sharma, secretary Pyare Lal Sharma, Hari Ram Sharma, Roop Lal Sharma and prominent community leaders, including KK Bhardwaj, Om Parkash Garga, Bishambar Dutt Sharma, Rikhi Ram Sharma, Sita Ram Sharma, Ramesh Chand, Prem Lal, Gambhari Devi, Barfi Devi and Som Dutt Kaushal.

Solan, January 23
The open outburst of BJP workers of the Doon constituency against “lack of respect and regard within the party” and poor treatment by officials of the subdivision has exposed the simmering discontent within the Doon BJP.

Since the workers aired their grievances openly before MLA Vinod Chandel during a meeting of the Doon BJP held on Saturday, it shows the level of frustration among the party workers. They said the same officers had been posted in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh who had remained there during the Congress regime. The BJP workers alleged that these officers cared little to even execute routine works and instead indulged in minting money.

Terming the situation as deplorable, former zila parishad chairman and PCC secretary Ram Kumar Chowdhary said when BJP leaders were not being given due regard by officials despite their government being in power what could the common man expect.

He said the allegations levelled by the BJP workers spoke volumes about the official high-handedness. He alleged that development had taken a back seat in the Doon constituency.

Bilaspur, January 23
Prominent Congress leader and former party state secretary Hoshiar Singh Thakur, who is now Zila Parishad member for the third time, has challenged the government list of only 364 Bhakra Dam oustees, which, it claims, remain to be rehabilitated after their uprootment in 1958 in the district here.

Talking to mediapersons and giving concrete instances, Hoshiar Singh said the list was nothing more than a “concoction on political considerations” and the government should be true to its duty towards oustees and provide resettlement benefits to all those whom it had uprooted for the construction of the dam.

Hoshiar Singh urged the Chief Minister to appoint a full-fledged officer to look into the problem. He should identify all the families who still remained to be resettled even after 50 years.

Bilaspur, January 23
In a daring feat, a youth fled after looting a bundle of notes worth Rs 50,000 from the counter of Saini Gas Agency at Raura sector here last night.

Reports said the manager and some employees of the agency had just finished counting the currency notes received after distributing gas cylinders in the town during the day and were almost going to close day’s work when a stranger approached them and asked for the location of a house in that sector.

Before he could be given a reply, the youth suddenly dashed into the shop and pounced on the bundles of currency notes lying on the counter and tried to flee. One of the employees immediately obstructed his way. While two bundles fell from his hands, he succeeded in carrying away one of the bundles and vanished in the dark outside.

The employees ran after him, but failed to catch him.

The police has registered a case under Section 379, IPC.