Palampur, August 14
"Benami" land deals in Himachal Pradesh have become a matter of serious concern for the state government. Today ‘benami land deals’ are haunting the BJP government since these have become a major election issue for the coming Assembly elections, due in November 2012.

The “active connivance” of revenue officials, politicians and property dealers in this scam has caused a huge loss to the exchequer and has rendered the government helpless.

The state government had made efforts to check this menace and appointed a one-man commission headed by Justice DP Sood to probe the benami land deals in the state. Surprisingly, most of the deals did not come to the notice of the commission. Besides, the commission focused itself only on those deals which were made during the previous Congress regime, when Virbhadra Singh was the Chief Minister but did not take note of the deals which were reported in the past four years.

Sections 6, 7 and 118 of the HP Land Revenue Act prohibit outsiders to buy land in Himachal Pradesh. Therefore, the business of benami land deals flourished during the past few years. Though the Deputy Commissioners concerned time and again announced to deal strictly with the benami land deals and punish the culprits, all this remained confined to files.

According to unofficial sources, over 1,000 properties have been purchased by outsiders in the state simply on agreement (patta) and no sale deeds have been registered till date. On most of such land, shops, residential houses, religious centres and other commercial complexes have already come up without the approval of the state government. Besides individuals, a number of property dealers from Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and New Delhi have also purchased properties in Himachal.

In fact, benami land deals in the state have become a big scam. Despite the fact that the state government was well conversant with the situation, it was helpless in initiating any action against the culprits as certain high-ups with strong political connections were involved in such shady deals. Revenue officials can face action only if the state high court orders a vigilance probe. Bordering districts like Solan, Kangra, Una and Sirmour have the highest number of benami land deals.

The situation moved from bad to worse three years ago when state government declared to liberalise the provisions of Sections 6, 7 and 118 of the HP Land Revenue Act and announced that it would allow non-Himachalis and other outsiders to buy land in the state.

Thereafter, a race began to buy land in Himachal and hundreds of outsiders entered into such unfair deals with locals to buy land particularly in districts adjoining to planes, with the hope that the government would later regularise such land deals. But the move of the state government came to a halt when the opposition parties opposed the amendment in the Act and the government failed to go ahead in the matter.

Solan, August 14
Sherwood College, Nainital, emerged victorious by defeating Assam Valley School (AVS), Assam, 3-2 in the final of the second All-India Sant Singh Memorial Soccer Tournament for Boys, which concluded at Pinegrove School, Dharampur. The match was played under floodlights, which was a perfect ambiance for the finals. One goal from Sherwood and then an equaliser from Assam Boys kept the audience on tenterhooks throughout the 90-minute game.

Rohan Yadav netted the ball twice for Sherwood, while Saurav Hamal also scored one goal for the winners. For AVS, Ayemi and Rapsang scored one goal each. Sherwood boys kept the momentum going right from the very beginning.

Earlier in the first semifinal, last year’s runner-up host team Pinegrove lost in an exciting semifinal to Sherwood College by a margin of 3-1. The match went into the extra time as the score read 1-1 at full time. The Sherwood boys converted half chances that came their way and won the match. In the second semifinal, Assam Valley School, Assam, drubbed Mayo College, Ajmer, by 3-0 to set a title clash with Sherwood College.

The Highest Scorer Award went to Varun of AVS, Assam, while Rushil Negi of Pinegrove was adjudged the best defender. The Best Goalkeeper Award went to Murongpang of AVS. Saurav Hamal walked away with the Player of the Tournament award for the second year in a row.

Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, graced the closing ceremony and gave away the prizes. He congratulated the winners and all the participating teams for making the tournament a success. Deepak Sharma, secretary, Himachal Pradesh Football Association, was also present on the occasion.

Palampur, August 14
The students belonging to poor families in the state will no longer have to leave schools for want of proper uniforms as the state government has released Rs 64 crore for the first phase of the ‘Atal School Uniform Scheme’.

The scheme was launched in May this year to provide two sets of uniforms to each student from Class I to Class X in schools. The scheme had been implemented successfully by dispatching 9,28,365 sets of uniforms to all schools in the state. All districts of the state have been covered under the scheme.

Moreover, the government is also giving Rs 100 to every student as stitching charges. As many as 9,27,205 students, who are enrolled in government schools, including 4,63,680 boys and 4,63,525 girls, will be benefited by the scheme.

The scheme is aimed at improving the enrolment rate in schools besides encouraging parents to send their children to schools, who were earlier reluctant because they could not afford uniforms.

The Himachal Pradesh Government has taken the lead in the country by taking up various ambitious schemes to ensure qualitative and quantitative education of students.

The government's commitment to ensure that every pupil gets education can be gauged from the fact that it is implementing various scholarship schemes like the ‘Dr Ambedkar Meritorious Scholarship Scheme’, under which, 4,000 meritorious students are getting an annual scholarship of Rs 10,000 in plus one and plus two classes. There is also the ‘Dr Thakur Sen Negi Meritorious Scholarship Scheme’, in which 400 meritorious students of scheduled tribes are getting scholarships of Rs 11,000 each.

All girls’ students are being imparted free education up to the university level in the state.

Nurpur, August 14
The forest guard training centre, set up at Kuther near Kotla by the Forest Department, has been closed for the past decade due to the apathy of the state government.

According to information, the then government had started forest guard training centres at Chail in Shimla, Sundernagar in Mandi and Kuther in Kangra district in 1992. The Forest Department ran 12 batches of training for its guards here.

At present, the centre, on which lakhs of rupees had been spent by the department, is closed and is being looked after by a watchman. With its closure, the fresh forest guard recruits have to undergo departmental training at Chail and Sundernagar.

Inquiries revealed that the Forest Department had taken the decision of converting Sundernagar centre into a forest rangers’ college. There is a public demand to revive the training centre.

Harbans Rana, former Forest Minister and BJP ex- MLA from Guler Assembly Constituency, with whose efforts the centre was opened, said after the closure of this centre, he had raised this issue in the Assembly several times, but the Forest Department failed to reopen it. 

Baijnath (Palampur), August 14
The Baijnath bus stand, which was constructed in 1989, is in a bad shape as in the past 23 years the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) has not done anything for its repair. Because of the poor maintenance of its building and non-repair of floors, the building is on the verge of collapse.

Repeated complaints to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Transport Minister Mohinder Singh by local residents have yielded no results so far.

There are potholes at the bus stand causing waterlogging during rains, making it difficult even to walk on foot. The HRTC authorities are the least bothered about the situation and no efforts have been made to repair the damaged portion of the bus stand.

There are no toilets at the bus stand, as a “sulabh shauchalaya” inside the bus stand had already been closed by the HRTC authorities for repair.

Due to an ancient Shiva temple in the town, the Baijnath bus stand is one of the most important bus stands of the state, as thousands of people daily board buses from here to different destinations. Over 1,000 buses enter and move out of this bus terminal daily.

However, the regional manager, HRTC, said the bus stand was in a bad shape, adding that the repair work would be taken up after the rains.

Hamirpur, August 14
With the death of Hari Krishan Mittoo, the first director of public relations (DPR) of Himachal Pradesh, an era has come to an end. It is just a coincidence that Mittoo, who had a close association with Dr YS Parmar, the first Chief Minister of the state, died on August 6, two days after the state celebrated the 106th birth anniversary of Dr Parmar. The former served as the DPR of the state for 18 years.

It was Dr Parmar who brought Mittoo from New Delhi to Shimla. He was the editor of a magazine there and the former appointed him as the editor of ‘Himprastha’ in the late 50s. During that time, the state was in its infancy stage and needed professionals.

Later, Mittoo was appointed as the Director of Public Relations and Tourism of the state in 1958 as both the departments were one at that time. As head of the Public Relations and Tourism Department, he shaped and developed the department and also groomed and trained several professionals.

In his primary role as the DPR, Mittoo always kept Dr Parmar abreast with the public image, communication and political developments of the state.

Born in Noormahal, Punjab, he had studied at FC College, Lahore, and worked for several English newspapers in New Delhi.

Mittoo was a prolific writer and had deep knowledge of current issues, literature, history and culture. He was a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers and also penned a book titled “Himachal Pradesh”, which is still one of the authoritative books on the subject.

He also wrote plays for the All-India Radio.

Bilaspur, August 14
Four ticket-seeking leaders of the Congress from the Jhandutta constituency have condemned the statement of the Jhandutta block Congress president, in which the president called them “chutt-bhaiyyas,” and said his hostile attitude towards them and his open alignment with Dr Biru Ram Kishore was unfortunate and undesirable.

They urged him to change his stance and treat all probables at the same pedestal and recommend their cases to the party high command according to their merit.

Vivek Kumar, Youth Congress general secretary of the state, zila parishad member Vijay Kaushal, Gyan Singh Gambhir, general secretary of the District Congress, and Prithi Chand Dhiman, former president of the Talai Nagar Parishad, said the Congress was a democratic party and it was their right to come forward with their aspirations for the party ticket.

They said they had full faith in the party and its leadership and would support the leader who gets the ticket for the Assembly elections.

They rebutted the charges of the block president that they had no following in their constituencies and asked him to desist from criticising Congress workers and advised him not to make any wrong remarks.

Solan, August 14
Shoolini University has now been ranked second best in a survey of India’s best private biotech schools in the latest issue of the BioSpectrum magazine.

While acknowledging the university’s facilities at par with the best in the field, the BioSpectrum magazine notes “The infrastructure and facilities of Shoolini University’s School of Biotechnology are complimented by international academic alliances with Seoul National University, South Korea; National Hampshire University, US; and Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan for transfer of credits and student exchange programmes”.

The criteria which have been taken into consideration while granting the university one of the top ranks include its reputation, quality of academic input, facilities available for students, placements, quality of the faculty, research publications, reports, projects, innovation and governance in education, admission process and its basic infrastructure.

A number of projects of the school have received funds to the tune of Rs 4.4 crore from the industry and Rs 4.1 crore from government agencies.

Improving upon its earlier ranking from fourth in 2011, Shoolini University has now jumped to number 2 in the list of top ten private biotechnology schools of India.

BioSpectrum ranking is considered to be the most comprehensive research tool for students and parents in opting for higher education opportunities in biotechnology and related fields.

Kasauli, August 14
A plantation drive was undertaken at Lawrence School, Sanawar, under the aegis of the school’s nature clubs, International Award for Young People (IAYP) and Society for Preservation of Kasauli and its Environs (SPOKE), on the occasion of Hiroshima Day.

The IAYP, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh Award, is a statuary body which acknowledges students across the world for their contribution in the areas of skill, adventure, sports and social service.

The SPOKE, which was started 25 years ago by a veteran diplomat and former Governor BK Nehru for environmental conservation of Kasauli and its surroundings, led the students to participate in the plantation drive. Its members urged the students of various schools of Kasauli to contribute to the green environment drive.

About 100 students participated in planting thousands of saplings of varied varieties on the school campus. Lt Gen (retd) Kamal Davar, a leading member of the SPOKE, joined the students for the drive.

Bilaspur, August 14
Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) president and former MP and BJP state president Maheshwar Singh has criticised the top leaders of the BJP for their ‘hurry’ in inaugurating incomplete schemes and projects.

He also flayed the top brass of the party for ‘throwing all norms to winds’ and making ‘unfounded’ declarations in an attempt to woo voters in the state.

Talking to mediapersons here recently, Maheshwar Singh said the Jukhala irrigation tank collapsed within four days of its inauguration, while a primary health centre inaugurated four weeks ago was still underconstruction.

He said a trauma centre, inaugurated a few weeks ago, was still not functional as there were no machines, equipment and specialists to run it.

He appreciated the government for taking 84 villages out of the rigours of the Town and Country Planning Act.

He also charged BJP leaders with ‘double dealing’ and said during the last elections, when the Election Commission had declared elections six months earlier to the actual schedule, the BJP had rejoiced saying it had prevented Virbhadra Singh from doling out eleventh hour concessions to people with eyes on elections.

“But now they are opposing the similar demands of the enforcement of code of conduct that can prevent the BJP from squandering away government funds and doling out concessions to their kin ensuring support in the upcoming poll,” he added.

Kasauli, August 14
The efforts of the HP Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) to spruce up three ancient churches in the cantonment town of Kasauli and to construct a geo-historic museum seem to be caught in official red tape as the cantonment board has not granted an NOC even after a year.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal had laid the foundation stone of the national museum last year and the HPTDC was pursuing the case with the cantonment board, Kasauli, to get the required permission.

According to the corporation's plan, a geo-historic museum, displaying remains of pre-historic life, will be built for research by the geologists.

The museum, which will be the first of its kind in the country, will have paleontological fossils of times immemorial. The museum, a Rs 8.66-crore project, will boot tourism in Kasauli and bring geologists to the town for research. Moreover, a Rs 10-lakh grant for restoration of the churches will further enhance tourism as the churches were built during the British rule and having Italian stained-glass painting and old grandeur.

Lokender Chauhan, MD of the corporation, said they were pursuing the matter with the cantonment board on priority and all concerns regarding security, raised by the defence authorities, were met. — OC

I was scared of the road condition to Bharmour from Chamba because about eight years ago when I had gone there, the 65-km road stretch was in a poor shape. As compared to that, it was better this time but ‘miles to go’ to touch Hema Malini’s cheeks. A newly constructed gate, totally out of tribal ambience, at the entry of Bharmour gave me a surprised thrill (see photo).

It has Ganesh and Hanuman on its two flanks while the Lord-God Shiva of tribal Bharmour sits on the top. Crafted by artists from Jaipur, it was inaugurated in 2009 by Tulsi Ram, the Speaker of Himachal Pradesh Assembly. Why had we to borrow the design from a neighbouring state when we proudly announce of our rich culture? I went straight to the well-known and frequently visited complex of 84 temples and found it to be adequately preserved (see photo).

The temples were slate-roofed whereas the surrounding houses had tin roofs. The complex is the hub of Bharmour. Visitors as well as the locals were enjoying the pleasing sun of the morning. Newly married ladies decked up in gold brocaded red dupattas and hands covered with plentiful bangles were leading their respective husbands from temple to temple. And they like faithful Billy-goats followed their newly acquired life-partners. May this faithfulness stay forever!

There were two green coloured water-tanks there, courtesy the Irrigation and Public Health Department. The important instructions painted on the tanks were: 1. Water is Life. Do not waste it. 2. Keep the surroundings of the tanks tidy and clean. On the day of my visit, the three taps attached to the tanks were non-operative and constantly spilling water and the only dirty place that I could see in the complex was this. Besides the standing Nandi facing Mani Mahesh mounted in the main shikhar-style temple, there is a 128-foot high and of 23.4-foot girth Deodar tree in the complex, which in itself is an attraction for the visitors.

I will have to give a brief history of the state to describe the numeral 84, because if you count the temples there you find these to be much less than the given number. It was Maru, a religious devotee, who had established the state which was very small and Brahampura (present Bharmour) was its capital. His rule was short; he handed over the state to his son and went to become a sadhu. After him, several Rajas like Jaistambh, Jalstambh and Mahastambh ruled the state. Known history speaks of Aditya-Varman AD 620, first in the Chamba line to assume the suffix of Varman. Meru-Varman AD 680 was notable for constructing temples. History of Panjab Hill States reads: “While the shrines of Lakshna Devi and Ganesh of Brahmaur almost certainly date from the time of Meru-Varman, the present temple of Mani Mahesh is probably of later date: the original temple, however, was created by Meru-Varman as proved by the inscription on the bull.” After Meru-Varman, Sahila-Varman AD 920 holds a conspicuous place in the state annals; he conquered large areas and shifted the capital from Brahampura to Chamba. It was during his reign that 84 yogis visited Brahampura. They were greatly pleased with the welcome and hospitality that the Raja had offered to them. They gave the Raja a boon of having 10 sons so that a proper heir could be chosen for the state. History says: “They were invited to remain in Brahampura till the prediction was fulfilled, and in due course 10 sons were born, and also a daughter, named Champavati.”

The yogis left Bharmour but wherever a yogi sat in the complex, there existed a stone slab today. An insider told me that if the slabs and the temples are counted then the number comes to 84. I did not do the counting.

Bharmour today has developed into a sweet and small town. It has a degree college and a helipad too. People are comfortably placed and they smell of money through apples and vegetables.