Shimla, June 26
Notwithstanding the dogmatic beliefs of cremating the dead as per the Hindu rites by lighting the pyre, the Rotary Club, Shimla, has taken the lead in the North India by setting up the first-of-its-kind LPG cremation plant that is environment- friendly as well as economical.

The club has spent over Rs 60 lakh on importing the equipment from Florida, USA, and constructing a structure for installing the machinery, which was test run by technicians from abroad.

“There is an urgent need to change the mindset of the people as with changing times it might not be possible to adhere to the traditional cremation system,” said Rohit Karol and Parikshat Mehdudia, president and secretary of the Club, respectively, while addressing a press conference here today.

The plant was formally handed over by the club to the local Sood Sabha for running and maintenance.

As expected, the response of the public towards this modern LPG cremation plant has been rather lukewarm.

“For the past two months since we have started this facility, majority of people still prefer to stick to the traditional wood pyre, except a few, but we are confident that gradually people will come to accept it as it is more eco-friendly, economical and less time consuming,” they said.

Giving details, Mehdudia said though there was a provision for the LPG cremation as well as traditional wood pyre but cost wise this costs barely Rs 2,000 as compared to Rs 6,000 for the old style.

Sensing the religious sentiments of the families, he said special provision had been made to enable performing of the “Kapal Kriya” but the equipment cannot take fumes emanating from hawan samagri, which would have to be avoided.

“The family member of the deceased can press the button to light the pyre and even collect the astu (phool) as is done in the traditional creation as per the Hindu belief,” he explained.

The Rotary Club has sought the help of the government and the Municipal Corporation to help people accept this new system.

“To keep the machines running and encourage people to use it, we have offered to cremate the unclaimed bodies free of cost,” said Mehdudia.

The LPG cremation plant is equipped with state-of-the-art 25 KVA generator set, 30 KW stabiliser, dedicated electric service cable and a gas bank of 60 LPG cylinders.

Local legislator Suresh Bhardwaj has helped set up the plant by donating Rs 15 lakh from his MP Local Area Development Fund with Rs 18 lakh donations coming jointly from the MC, the HP Forest Corporation and some charitable institutions and individuals.

Dharamsala, June 26
Congress leader from Kangra GS Bali will start the third phase of his Rath Yatra from Kinnaur district from tomorrow. He said his yatra would start from Kinnaur and end at Shimla after passing though tribal areas of the state.

Bali said during the third part of his yatra he would highlight corruption in the present government, besides highlighting the plight of unemployed youth in the state.

He said former Health Minister Rajeev Bindal was likely to be removed after corruption charges were levelled against him by the Congress in the Vidhan Sabha. Earlier also, Bindal had offered to resign after pressure from the Congress during the Budget Session, but his resignation was not accepted by the Chief Minister.

Resignation of the minister cannot absolve the present government from the charges of corruption. The Congress had been demanding a probe by a central agency into charges levelled against Bindal, he alleged. The third part of Bali’s yatra would end in about three days.

Though Bali had planned to extend his yatra to three months leading to elections in the state, his programme would end within one month.

Sources here said Bali had been forced to hasten his yatra due to lack of cooperation from other Congress leaders of the state. Bali has been left alone in the yatra in which he had planned to cash on the issue of unemployment in the state.

Virbhadra Singh has stated that Bali’s yatra was not the programme of the HPCC. Bali has, however, claimed that since he was a Congressman his yatra was also the programme of the party.

Shimla, June 26
The decision of five-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to resign from the Union Cabinet and take his fight for justice in the much-publicised audio CD case to the “streets” has set the stage for a direct clash with Chief Minister PK Dhumal who, he alleges, has been instrumental in framing him in false cases not once but twice.

He provided ample evidence of it during his brief interaction with mediapersons soon after submitting his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. His language, tone and tenor left no one in doubt that he would come out with all guns blazing and Dhumal would be at the receiving end in the run-up to the Assembly poll. Known for his fighting qualities, the erstwhile “Raja” never takes things lying down and fights his battles to a bitter end. A wounded “Singh” may actually prove far more dangerous for the BJP and Dhumal.

A shrewd politician, Virbhadra knows that in a democratic set-up people are the ultimate masters. By resigning as minister he has not only disarmed his detractors, but also shifted the battleground. It is not for the first time that he is facing such a situation. In fact, he has become used to fight his detractors and high command opposition at the same time.

In 1990, he was completely sidelined and failed to become leader of a nine-member Congress Legislative Party, but he passed the real test, the 1993 Assembly elections, with flying colours and became the Chief Minister even though his rival Sukh Ram enjoyed the backing of the high command.

The same story was repeated in 2003, when he was implicated in the “Sagar Katha” case, but he managed to become the Chief Minister again.

Framing of charges against him will not in any way undermine his popularity and if Virbhadra manages to convince people that it is a case of political vendetta, he may well earn their sympathy.

Veteran leader Sukh Ram, who was even jailed after the recovery of unaccounted cash from his house, played a vital role in throwing out the Congress regime during the 1998 Assembly poll.

His hurriedly formed Himachal Vikas Congress won five seats, paving for the formation of a non-Congress government in the state in alliance with the BJP, which failed to get a clear majority.

However, a matter for concern for him is that he may face legal hurdles in becoming the Chief Minister if charges are not quashed. Moreover, the legal battle may take quite sometime and by the time the charges are ultimately quashed, it may be too late. Only time will tell what strategy he adopts in such a scenario.

New Delhi, June 26
Birender Singh, AICC general secretary and party in charge for Himachal, said today that the CD row involving Union Minister Virbhadra Singh would not affect party prospects in the forthcoming poll.

Throwing his weight behind Virbhadra Singh, Birender Singh said Virbhadra was the tallest leader in the party in Himachal.

Indicating that Vidbhadra could contest Assembly elections, Birender said: “Virbhadra is the most important political figure of the Congress in the state. Framing of the charge sheet does not debar anyone from contesting elections.”

“He has already moved the high court and we are expecting a hearing at the earliest. We are hoping for a reprieve for him. Once the HC orders come, who knows they might neutralise the effect of today’s developments involving the resignation of Virbhadra,” Birender told The Tribune.

Shimla, June 26
The case against Virbhadra Singh, who resigned today from the Union Cabinet, and his wife Pratibha Singh was instituted on the basis of an audio CD, but special judge BL Soni has not entirely relied on it and based his order on framing charges against them on other evidence.

He has clearly stated that as per the verdict of the apex court, the audio cassette as a piece of evidence fails the admissibility test. He said, “Even if this evidence is excluded, there is other material and evidence which throws suspicion as to the involvement of the accused persons”.

The court rejected the plea of the counsel for the accused to place additional evidence at the time of framing of charges, saying no documents could be produced at this stage.

The defendants wanted to place copies of petitions filed by Dr Kapil Mohan of Mohan Meakins and Prem Chand Jain, former vice-president of Gujarat Ambuja, filed in the HC. The two alleged that the statements attributed to them were false.

The judge said the matter of grant of permission for establishment of a cement plant by Gujarat Ambuja and installation of an effluent treatment plant by M/s Mohan Meakin Ltd were pending consideration of the government of which Virbhadra was the CM and his wife Pratibha allegedly showed interest in the clearance of the projects.

“They allegedly received Rs 5 lakh and thereafter, the cement plant clearance was given and M/s Mohan Meakin Ltd was further granted time for completion of the plant and machinery. Virbhadra Singh being the Chief Minister was the public servant,” the court observed. The counsel for the Union Minister contended that there was no direct evidence of payment of the money to the accused. 

Dharamsala, June 26
Vijay Singh Mankotia, a bete noire of former Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Virbhadra Singh, who resigned from the Union Cabinet today, has welcomed the step taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in accepting the resignation.

While talking to mediapersons here today, Mankotia alleged that Virbhadra, besides resigning from the post of Union Minister, should also quit politics.

He alleged that during his stint as the Chief Minister of the state five times, Virbhadra destroyed the Congress leadership in lower areas of the state, including Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur and Una districts, and he was responsible for the “poor performance” of the Congress in lower areas of the state.

Mankotia also alleged that the amount of damage Virbhadra had done to the state as Chief Minister was irreversible.

He further alleged that in the process of maintaining complete hegemony over the state, Virbhadra nurtured a ring of bureaucrats, henchmen and politicians, who used to act as his mercenaries.

A special commission under the retired justice of the high court or the Supreme Court should be formed to probe into the wealth generated by the coterie of politicians and bureaucrats around Virbhadra.

Mankotia further said he was surprised that despite knowing fully the facts of the case against Virbhadra, Congress president Sonia Gandhi allowed him to continue on important posts.

“It is surprising why the Prime Minister, who is himself an honest person, is carrying a burden of about 12 corrupt ministers in his Cabinet,” Mankotia alleged.

Mankotia, who was a former minister in the Congress government led by Virbhadra in Himachal, was a prominent leader of the party from Kangra district. He left the party following differences with Virbhadra.

Mankotia also released the controversial CD on the basis of which charges have now been framed against Virbhadra and his wife.

He said he apprehended that Virbhadra who was now “out of power” would try his level best to settle scores with the Congress in the state. Other Congress leaders from the region desisted from making statements over the issue.

GS Bali, another prominent Congress leader from the region, said he had full faith in the legal system of the country and would not like to comment since the case against Virbhadra was under the preview of the court.

Shimla, June 26
A new documentary, “Malana”, has sparked off a controversy with some of those involved in campaigns for dissuading people of the remote village from growing narcotics and indulging in drug trafficking crying fowl.

The documentary, “Malana- One Day Ahead of Democracy”, which was screened at the Gaiety Theatre here yesterday, has evoked strong reactions from national awardee film-maker Vivek Mohan, who had produced the first short film on the remote village, and OP Sharma, a former official of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). They maintained that it had distorted truth, presented a one-sided picture and, by coincidence or design, showed those involved in efforts to pull out the closed society out from the drug trap in a bad light.

Sharma, who led several campaigns against drug trafficking during his stint in the NCB from 2002 to 2007, lamented that maker of the documentary Amalan Datta had undermined his pioneering efforts to persuade villagers to grow vegetables instead of cannabis. He had formed Malana Vikalpa, a cooperative society of local people, to grow alternative crops for livelihood like vegetables and medicinal plants and market the produce collectively. As many as 205 out of the total 352 households in the village had become members of the society and successfully raised new crops.

However, he was dubbed as a “cheater” in the documentary merely for the reason that the farmers could not get remunerative rates for a few consignments of vegetables. He did not bother to get the views of those managing the society and conveniently ignored the fact that rates were governed by market forces and not farmer cooperatives. Moreover, if a few consignments of peas were sold at Rs 6 per kg, there were several others which fetched from Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kg. He said he would consider taking legal action after consulting his lawyer. The police was also shown in a poor light.

Vivek Mohan wondered whether government agencies should promote such films which showed involvement of children and women in the narcotics trade. He said these days documentary makers were indulging in pseudo activism and creating controversies as part of the marketing strategy. A documentary was a creative presentation of reality and not a distortion of reality as had done in the instant case. His documentary on the village made in 1998, which earned him the coveted President’s National Award in 1999, highlighted the unique social and cultural traditions of the world’s oldest democracy. He said non-government organisations were increasingly resorting to pseudo activism just to corner funds from foreign agencies.

Mandi, June 26
The Mandi police yesterday seized a haul of 70.5 kg of naag chhatri worth Rs 14 lakh being smuggled by two Nepalese couriers in a Delhi-based tourist bus on its way from Manali to Delhi.

This is the second big seizure by the police has given credence to recent The Tribune stories how herbal smuggling is going on unchecked in the Kullu and Mandi herbal belt under the nose of the Forest Department.

Earlier also, the police had seized 17 bags of naag chhatri from a tourist bus last month, but the actual supplier was not caught.

Though the police has arrested the two Nepalese couriers, Namda Sangmu Lama and Sonam, both from the Mungu region, it has yet to catch the “actual herb suppliers” from Kullu and impound the bus carrying the illegal assignments in a passenger bus.

SP, Mandi, Abhishek Dular said a police team laid a naka at Sundernagar and searched the tourist bus (DL IPB 0806) and recovered 39 kg of naag chhatri worth Rs 8 lakh and 31.5 kg worth Rs 6 lakh in the international market from the two Nepalese travelling in the same bus.

They were arrested under Sections 379, IPC, and 41 and 42, Indian Forest Act.

Bilaspur, June 26
Hundreds of villagers, who will be uprooted or affected by the Kiratpur-Ner Chowk four-lane Express Highway, have warned the government to solve the problems they have to face due to their lands being taken by the government. They said they must be given land in lieu of their land and full market compensation and not compensation “unilaterally fixed by the state government recently” and all other grievances be solved before the start of the construction of this road.

Led by Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) leaders, including district president Daulat Ram Sharma and state joint spokesman Kesh Pathania, residents from all the 32 villages of the district which would be affected by this road, gathered at the Thakurdwara temple complex at Auhar, near here, on Sunday and adopted a number of resolutions urging the government to ensure that they did not meet the fate of Bhakra Dam oustees who were still awaiting their rehabilitation even after 55 years of their uprootment due to the dam.

The meeting, which was addressed by HLP state vice-president and former MLA Karam Dev Dhrmani, stressed that at least one member of their family be given a government job and that they must be taken into confidence before starting the process of their uprootment or taking over of their lands, houses and cow sheds etc for this purpose.

They formed a Kisan Samiti under the chairmanship of Mian Kishan Singh Chandel with Deep Chand Sharma as general secretary, Lekh Ram treasurer and Shravan Kumar, Santosh Kumari, Maya Devi, Soma Devi, Desh Raj, Nand Lal, Rajender Kumar, Ved Prakash, Krishnu Ram and Sada Ram as members.

Village leaders from Bhagedh, Bagh Thedu, Palthin, Auhar, Kothi, Behna Jattan, Rishi Kesh, Dammli, Dhradh Saani, Kohina, Sanot, Panoh and Baloh etc were present.

Solan, June 26
The slipshod manner in which the Central scheme of providing subsidy to farmers through a mobile-based fertiliser distribution system is being implemented in the state indicates how little it will benefit end users.

Though the scheme was supposed to be launched effectively in the current kharif season as per the earlier directions of the Central Government, depot holders and cooperative societies, who sell fertilisers to farmers have little information about its implementation. The Agriculture Department, along with various fertiliser distribution companies and HIMFED, are involved in the distribution of fertilisers in the state.

Depot holders and cooperative societies are supposed to open accounts in designated banks, make PAN cards and procure high-end cellphone numbers to assess e-mails as this will help track the movement of fertilisers online. The system, which has been evolved by the Union ministry will help ensure that the subsidy reached end users at the actual purchase price.

It is supposed to provide an end-to-end information on the movement of fertilisers and subsidies from manufacturers to retailers. Aimed at reducing leakages and expenditure on subsidies, the system will curtail the misuse of fertilisers as it is known that in order to grab the subsidies, the manufacturers have been adopting unfair means in distributing fertilisers.

Director, Agriculture, JC Rana said the scheme had been launched on a pilot basis. Now, as depot holders and cooperative societies were yet to learn the nitty-gritty of adopting the new system and in the absence of mobiles the adoption of this system had remained low.

He said all manufacturers, including IFFCO, NFL, RCF and KRIBHCO, were supposed to educate their respective societies.

Rana said they were regularly holding tele-conferences with the Ministry of Chemical and Fertilisers to apprise them of practical problems being faced in implementing this scheme and added its implementation had been delayed at the national level too.

With the state government yet to announce its fertiliser policy and this Central scheme yet to be functional fully, farmers failed to purchase fertilisers at subsided costs thus defeating the very purpose of both state and Central schemes.

Shimla, June 26
The Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) today demanded that the state government must revert to its decision of giving relaxation under Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act to religious leaders for setting up of ashrams as this will harm the interest of local residents.

In a statement here today, HLP leader Tikku Thakur said the decision taken by the state Cabinet in its last meeting to keep religious sects out of the purview of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act and the Land Ceiling Act for making land purchase was unfortunate.

“This decision is not in the interest of people of the state as precious land will go to big religious sects, headed by spiritual gurus in the relaxation of the norms,” he said.

He demanded that the government must revert to this decision immediately as “it is anti-people”.

The HLP leader also welcomed the resignation by Union Minister Virbhadra Singh while stating that the Congress leader had done the right thing.

He said it was for the first time that charges had been framed against any former Chief Minister or Union Minister by a court of law, which would undoubtedly have its impact on the state politics.

Shimla, June 26
Chief Secretary Sudripta Roy inaugurated a coffee shop at the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) at Tutikandi Bypass here today.

He said the initiative of the Tourism Department would was a much-needed addition to TIC. It would be managed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and efforts would be made to operate it round the clock. Besides tourists, it would also attract local people. He announced that a parking with a capacity of 600 to 800 vehicles would also be constructed close to TIC for which formalities were being completed.

The Chief Secretary said facilities like online hotel accommodation booking and sight-seeing packages would be available at TIC. Apart from government hotel booking, a separate counter for private hotel booking would also be offered to the Hotel Association. He said handloom, handicrafts and products fruit made by the HPMC would also be sold at the centre.

The tourist inflow to the state was constantly increasing and in 2011 tourist arrivals had reached 1.50 crore, which included 4.84 lakh foreign tourists, from 1.32 crore in 2010.

The Chief Secretary said 405 units had been registered till date under the Home Stay scheme in the state and tourists were enjoying the culture, lifestyle, traditions, customs and cuisines of rural areas. Efforts were being made to promote adventure, heritage, pilgrimage tourism and rural tourism. The focus was to develop tourism-related infrastructure and generate self-employment opportunities for local people. 

Nurpur, June 26
The Jawali police today registered four different FIRs in connection with yesterday’s stone-throwing and traffic blockade incidents at Fatehpur.

Thousands of villagers had staged dharnas at three different places to block traffic on link roads. They were protesting against police investigations into the alleged murder of Rajat (15) of Bhatti village. The villagers had blocked traffic at Hara Chowk, Fatehpur and two link roads leading to Jawali town and had started pelting stones on the police force deployed at Fatehpur which forced the police to resort to mild lathi-charge and tear gas shells in self-defence and to disperse the crowd. In this incident police personnel as well as villagers received injuries.

A number of villagers indulging in rioting and staging dharnas on the highway and link roads were arrested this evening.

Meanwhile, a forensic team, accompanied by ASP Nihal Chand and DSP, Jawali, Sanjay Sharma, also examined the Pong Lake bank from where the skeleton of the deceased boy had been recovered on June 17. The police also questioned three boys who had accompanied the deceased to see a wrestling bout on June 3 at Jagnolli village.

SP, Kangra, Daljeet Thakur said the murder case was likely to be investigated by the crime branch of the state CID and the police was awaiting its final approval. He said the situation at Fatehpur was totally peaceful and the police had undertaken patrolling in the tension-gripped area today.