Shimla, December 9
With senior leaders of the state Congress busy lobbying in New Delhi as the day of counting draws near, the task of looking into complaints of anti-party activities during the elections assigned to the three-member committee seems to have been pushed to the backburner.

The committee was constituted by All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and state affairs in charge Birender Singh Chaudhary on November 27. Told to submit its report within three weeks, the committee has not met even once.

Its members are Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Vidya Stokes, former Rajya Sabha member Viplove Thakur and former Industries Minister Kuldeep Kumar. All three are former state party presidents.

Kumar had gone to South India while Stokes and Thakur were camping in New Delhi. There are apprehensions that the members are adopting a wait-and-watch policy so that the decision can be delayed till December 20.

“The members do not wish to annoy either state party chief Virbhadra Singh, nor the AICC general secretary. The best option is to delay the process,” remarked a senior leader.

Most senior state Congress leaders, including Virbhadra Singh, Stokes, Thakur, GS Bali and Asha Kumari, are busy meeting AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, Birender Singh and other Central leaders in Delhi. With the day of counting drawing near, the two rival factions are lobbying for the post of Chief Minister in case the Congress wins.

Some of those expelled by Virbhadra Singh have personally met Sonia Gandhi. This includes former minister Singhi Ram. He met the party chief yesterday to explain his position. His expulsion has been stayed.

Following the expulsion of 28 leaders without issuing them a show-cause notice, the AICC general secretary had stayed the expulsion order. He then constituted the committee and assigned it the task of looking into poll-related complaints.

Dharamsala, December 9
Many farmers in the district, especially those in areas with water scarcity, have given up farming. From farmers growing grain and vegetables at least for their own needs, they have been reduced to labourers under MNREGA.

A trip on the Kangra-Nagotia Surian road has revealed that many farmers have abandoned their fields. Enquiries have revealed that they have stopped working in the fields due to MNREGA and cheap rations provided by the government.

Dhan Singh, a farmer, said people get around Rs 3,200 per month under the MNREGA while rations cost less than Rs 1,000 at public distribution shops.

He said farmers were facing problems due to stray and wild animals. Now that they could make both ends meet, they had given up farming, he added.

Many progressive farmers involved in dairy and poultry farming say they are not in a position to find labour due to the MNREGA and are finding it hard to run their units.

Kisastha of the Shahpur area said he had to close his poultry units for want of labour. Dairy farming heavily depends on labour. Village residents can earn enough by working under the MNREGA for about six months a year.

The maximum number of people from rural areas in the state to get employment under the MNREGA is from Kangra district. In the last couple of years, about Rs 400 crore was spent under the MNREGA in the district.

The state government had proposed to the Centre that farmers be allowed to guard their fields from wild animals under MNREGA, but it was turned down. Some farmers said they were forced to abandon their fields due to stray cattle.

“Our land holding is very small. We used to sow crops for our own consumption. In the last few years, the number of stray cattle in the area has increased. Cattle destroy our field and we cannot hurt them due to religious beliefs,” rued Ram Lal, a farmer in the area.

Farmers also alleged that stray cattle were being released in their villages by outsiders. Officials with the Department of Animal Husbandry said they had started registering animals of farmers.

They said the name and address of the owner was being tattooed on the animals, which would help the department in keeping track of the animals.

Under a new Act, panchayats are empowered to impose a fine of up to Rs 500 on the owner if his cattle is found damaging the field or property of a farmer. There is no such provision for cattle already left in the open by owners.

The officials said the government had formulated a policy to open community cowsheds and non-government organisations were being urged to open those. The government would give a one-time grant or set up the community cowshed, the officials added.

Inquiries have revealed that only a few have come forward to accept the proposal. The cattle that have stopped giving milk are generally abandoned by owners. It will be hard for any organisation to manage a large number of such cattle without persistent government support.

Solan, December 9
With more than 50 cases of environment impact clearance (EIA) involving mining failing to be get permission despite a lapse of several months, mining has been affected adversely in the state.

The apex court had made EIA for mining compulsory in February. This had forced all lessees to seek clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests after applying to the State EIA Assessment Authority and then to the State Expert Appraisal Committee.

Not a single case has managed to get clearance till now and lessees are unable to carry out mining. As many as 25 cases are pending in Solan district alone.

Since the procedure is tedious and time-consuming, the suspension of mining activity had created shortage of cut stone and sand in the private sector, where builders are finding it difficult to complete their projects.

This shortage has led to illegal mining in riverbeds during late hours in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh and Paonta Sahib areas. The material from these border areas is also being used for construction projects in Chandigarh, Panchkula, Zirakpur, Mohali and other nearby towns.

Despite checks, it has become difficult to check illegal mining, admit officials. They say the demand is immense. Officials add that an all-time high amount of Rs 2.5 lakh was collected in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh area in the last one month. It was observed that the same vehicle owners were challaned a number of times.

Builders lament that prices of mining material have gone up by between 25 per cent and 35 per cent in the last few months and supply has become scarce. Panchayats are also finding it hard to meet their daily needs for cut stone and sand.

Suresh Bhardwaj, District Mining Officer, said he had received resolutions from at least 20 panchayats, pleading for the availability of cut stone and sand for completing routine work in villages. The state government has also suffered as the revenue collection has declined with mining down to a trickle.

Mandi, December 9
The Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti (HGVS), an NGO, today warned the Central and state governments against allowing the ambitious MNCs to make the state a dumping ground for hazardous industries like the one set up in Bhopal that killed thousands of people.

Raising concern over the Bhopal gas leak, activists of the HGVS said they would campaign in the state infusing scientific temper among the masses and creating awareness about safety and security of industrial development.

The activists had gathered here today to attend its two-day state-level committee’s meeting. They will raise voice against the anti-people policies of the government and issues of corruption, price rise and unemployment, said its president Joginder Walia.

In charge, Himachal unit of the HGVS, Jai Somnath said the victims of Bhopal gas leak disaster still awaited justice even after 28 years. It was the duty of each NGO to oppose the setting up of companies which were anti-people and anti-environment.

State treasurer Satyavan Pundir said the samiti supported the state government’s action against ultrasound clinics and prescription of generic medicines by doctors as these would benefit the common man.

State secretary Bhim Singh said the HGVS would launch a state-wide campaign on ‘kheti bachao’, ‘beti bachao’, food and heath security rights in the state in the coming year. “We will make people aware about superstitions, irrational beliefs and spread scientific temper among them,” he added.

Bilaspur, December 9
Chief Minister PK Dhumal has exuded confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will retain power and that seeking help of Independents and other parties will not be required.

He said this while talking to mediapersons at the Naina Devi temple yesterday. He claimed that the BJP government had carried out many development works and launched schemes for the benefit of all sections of society.

He said forest clearance had been received for the Naina Devi-Anandpur Sahib ropeway project, a joint venture of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

He alleged that Union Commerce and Industries Minister Anand Sharma was not telling the truth by saying all states were consulted before taking the decision on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail.

Dhumal claimed that Himachal Pradesh was not consulted by the Centre on the issue. He added that Anand Sharma had not replied to his letter on the issue.

The Chief Minister declared that FDI would never be allowed in Himachal Pradesh as it would affect the business of lakhs involved in traditional trade.

He alleged that all trade would go in the hands of foreign companies after the introduction of FDI. He claimed that the companies would dictate terms on prices and quality to farmers.

He added that the companies would dictate consumers as well after destroying and capturing the market structure like the East India Company.

He said FDI should not be introduced in fields employing crores of people, but in defence projects and other big projects like the construction of airports, rail tracks, roads and bridges.

Shimla, December 9
Those making prank calls and harassing girls and women can now be in trouble within minutes as the police has tied up with its CID wing to provide the address of the caller immediately so that prompt action can be taken.

With almost one-third of the 1,900 complaints received on the police SMS assistance this year relating to hoax calls made to girls and young women, the police has decided to deal with the issue more sternly.

It has also been decided that investigation in such cases will be made by an inspector-level official or some senior police personnel in a time-bound manner.

The police earlier used to a

pproach the service provider concerned to provide information about the address of the subscriber. The process of the control room getting in touch with the cell company and then passing on the information to the SHO concerned took very long.

“Seeing the rise in the trend of harassing girls and women on mobile phones by way of crank calls and SMSes, we have decided to get the identity and address of the caller from the CID and act promptly,” said KC Sadyal, Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order).

He added that the process would take less than half an hour. The CID headquarters here could access the details of the caller promptly and provide it to the police, he further said.

Sadyal said the caller would first be asked to apologise and not to trouble the girl or woman anymore. “If he mends his ways, the matter will end there. If he persists, a case will be registered under the IT Act,” he added.

To make the investigation more prompt and foolproof, police personnel, including SHOs, are being provided information about various provisions of the IT Act.

The police SMS assistance number 9459100100 has become popular since its launch over two years ago. It received over 1,900 complaints this year so far.

Mandi, December 9
With automatic teller machines (ATMs) in Keylong having frozen in the -10 degree Celsius temperature, questions have been raised about the security and safety of the data stored in the 89 electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in Lahaul-Spiti district.

This has added to the suspense over the security of batteries and data stored in EVMs. Central Deputy Election Commissioner Alok Shukla and engineers of the EVM-manufacturing company are non-committal on the normal functioning of EVMs.

“They did not certify that EVMs would function normally in freezing temperatures. They did not certify that EVM batteries would not be jammed or that the data would be secure and intact in sub-zero temperatures,” said district officials.

Deputy Commissioner SS Guleria, also the district election officer, had transported the EVMs to Bhuntar in Kullu a few days after polling, but the intense cold wave had already set in in Lahaul-Spiti district by then.

Guleria said, “We have kept the EVMs in a strong room at the Tribal Bhavan in Bhuntar. We hope that everything is well when we open those for counting on December 20.”

Shimla, December 9
The Himalaya Sahitya and Sanskriti Avam Paryavaran Manch has decided to honour octogenarian litterateurs for their contribution towards literary, social and cultural fields by conferring them with “Life achievement honour”.

Those selected for the honour for 2013 include Saroj Vashisht, Molu Ram Thakur, Ram Dayal Niraj, Sunder Lohia and Satyen Sharma. The award will be presented to them at a function soon.

Writer and chairman of the manch SR Harnot said these writers had devoted their lives to promote Hindi literature, Himachali culture and social activities. There were a number of books to the credit of Saroj Vashisth and she was also a social worker. She had been organising programmes for jail inmates.

Molu Ram Thakur had contributed in history and culture of the state and authored a number of books, while Sunder Lohia had been a known figure in the field of Hindi literature and education and had written a number of short stories and novels.

Ram Dayal Niraj and Satyen Sharma were associated with the publication division of the Public Relations Department and were editors of Hindi magazines Himprastha and Giriraj Weekly. They had played a role to promote literature and culture in the state.

Mandi/Kullu, December 9
Trout fish farmers are facing the closure of their farms in the state as the Department of Fisheries has failed to provide both fish feed and seed to them at subsidised rates.

Farmers are up in arms against the government as it has failed to create infrastructural support that will give them fish feed and seed at subsidised rates.

Over 60 per cent of the private fish farms have been shut down in Mandi and Kullu districts while the remaining are facing closure, farmers said.

“I have no option other than leasing it out as it is difficult to buy fish feed at a high rate of Rs 70 per kg,” said Rup Katoch, a farmer from Batar Kullu.

Trout fishing had become a loss-making enterprise as the government never pays attention to promote fisheries in the private sector, he said.

“Farmers have no place to go as they are facing closure of their units as both fish feed and seed have become unaffordable,” said Shakti, a fish farmer from the Kullu valley.

“We need 50 per cent subsidy on fish feed to make fishery a profit-making enterprise,” he said.

The farmers said they were promised benefits and they took loan to set up units.

“Today most of the farmers are in a crisis and over 50 per cent of them have shut down their units,” said Balbir Yarki, president of the Fish Growers’ Association, Kullu.

No compensation was given for the losses caused to farms damaged by flash flood.

“Most of the units are located along the flood-prone tributaries of the Beas and the government never compensated them for the losses,” they said.

“We get fish feed for Rs 68 to Rs 70 per kg from the government-run feed farm but do not get the same when we need it most from July to October,” said Ashu Gupta, a trout farmer from Haripur.

Moreover, the government has not revised the fish price of Rs 250 per kg for the past many years, while mutton is sold for Rs 270 per kg.

“We have no marketing facilities and sell the fish by going from hotel to hotel,” Shakti added.

Yarki said they took up the issue with the government many times to provide insurance cover for the livestock and include the loss in the relief manual, but to no avail.

“The government is not interested in protecting fish farmers and promoting fisheries in the private sector,” he resented.

Director, Fisheries, Gurcharan Singh said: “The government is providing fish feed to farmers at 15 per cent less rates this time despite the fact that the cost of raw material is high. It is also providing subsidies on water tanks. We have sought private bids for feed units in the private sector, but there are no takers for the same.”

Nurpur, December 9
The Department of Science and Technology (DST), GoI, has awarded an ambitious project on “fire impact on carbon dioxide to estimate the carbon stored in pine forests and devise ways to enhance it in Himachal Pradesh” to the Regional Horticulture Research Station (RHRS), Jachh, in Nurpur.

The DST under the Carbon Sequestration Programme has earmarked Rs 47.96 crore for carrying out this research on the carbon storage, dynamics and loss of carbon by fire in pine forests in the state.

This project will also study alternative measures to lock carbon away from the forest, the generation of economic activities with the objective of storing carbon for long and the establishment of rural industry in pine forest areas.

This project has been assigned to Dr Vipon Guleria, forestry scientist, and his collaborators Dr Atul Gupta and Dr Sanjeev Thakur of the RHRS after preliminary investigations of the proposed project at the three-day national-level detailed discussion and the presentation programme of the DST held in Chennai from August 12 to 15 last.

Dr Guleria, whose over 15 research papers have appeared in national and international journals, had alone represented Himachal Pradesh at this national-level DST programme.

Dr Guleria, who is the principal investigator of the project, said: “If pine needles are managed in better ways, fire incidents can be checked .”

He added that the project research and study would be completed in the next three years.

Shimla, December 9
With the formal launch of its 47.6-MW project in Maharashtra on Friday, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVN) is now venturing into wind power.

The project formally took off with a ‘bhoomi poojan’ at Khirvire village, in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. RP Singh, Chief Managing Director (CMD), Nand Lal Sharma, Director (Personnel) and RK Bansal, Director (Electrical) were present on the occasion.

RP Singh said the project would have 56 turbine units of 850 KW each and spread over an area of 51.3 hectare. With an annual energy generation of 85.65 MU, it would also have a 132-KV transmission line from Akole, a 132-KV grid sub-station to the wind farm pooling station connecting 33-KV line for interconnecting the grid, he added.

As per the execution schedule, the project would be commissioned in June, 2013, while the grid stabilisation would be complete by August, 2013. The CMD said the SJVN owned and operated India’s largest 1,500-MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station in Himachal Pradesh, while its 412-MW Rampur project was scheduled to be commissioned in 2013. He added that the SJVN was implementing two more hydro electric projects in Himachal Pradesh, three in Uttarakhand, one in Nepal and two in Bhutan.

Mandi, December 9
The first batch of the IIT, Mandi, has bagged hefty pay packages from corporate bigwigs like Microsoft with an annual package as high as Rs 16.2 lakh each.

The first batch will be graduating in June 2013. But they have reasons to cheer as companies like Microsoft and Samsung have already visited the institute for in-campus recruitment.

In the first round, as many as 23 BTech students of the computer science branch and one from the electrical engineering branch received placement offers from Microsoft.

The company has offered an annual package of Rs 16.2 lakh each to Raj Kamal Singh, Samrat Gavale and Sumeet Singh Arora, all from the computer science stream.

According to the IIT, two MS students, Sujeet Kumar and Srimanta Mandal, have bagged job offers from Samsung.

The MS is a unique research-oriented Masters Degree programme in which each student spends two-three years in an individually-designed programme.

“Some MS graduates go for a PhD to prepare for a career in research and teaching,” said IIT officials.

Faculty adviser of the Career and Placement Cell at the IIT Dr Arti Kashyap said Microsoft, CISCO, Google, Samsung and Infosys had visited the campus.

“More companies, Altair, Cognizant, Finisar, Tejas, Toradex, L&T and others, are coming in the next round which will start in the first week of this month,” she said.

She added that the institute expects that most of the students would bag job offers soon.

Director, IIT, Mandi, Prof Timothy Gonsalves, said good opportunities were coming for the first batch of students here despite the remote location of the IIT.

“There are students in the first batch who are capable of setting up their own companies rather than competing for jobs in established companies. They are entrepreneurs who will provide jobs for others,” he hoped.

Kangra, December 9
Stress, change in lifestyle, indulging in smoking, consuming liquor, lacking awareness and eating an unbalanced diet and a few other unknown reasons seem to be the major causes for nerve-related hearing disability, which is more prevalent in this hill state in comparison to major cities of the country and these factors need to be addressed.

This was stated by Director, ENT, Head and Neck Surgery, Max Group of Hospitals, Dr Sanjay Sachdeva on the culmination of a two-day free ENT camp, organised by the local branch of the Vivekananda Kendra Kanya Kumari, here today.

He said nerve-related hearing disability was prevalent among 7 to 10 per cent of the population of this hill state, which was above the age of 50 years.

Dr Sachdeva said in major cities of the country the prevalence of this type of hearing disability was commonly seen in people in the age group of 65 to 70 years. He said this percentage did not include those who suffered deafness because of ear discharge and other reasons.

He said this nerve-related deafness was more prevalent among men than in women.

Today, on the second day of the camp, more than half-a-dozen super-specialised ear surgeries were conducted by Dr Sachdeva who was assisted by Dr Mala Bhattacharya from Max Hospital, Delhi, Dr Kamal of the ENT Department and Dr Vinay Somya, Department of Anesthesia, DRPGMC, Tanda.

Today audiometric tests were also conducted in the Civil Hospital, Kangra, as part of the camp.

Mandi, December 9
Lecturers, who are teaching MBA at the Abhilashi Institute of Management Study, Tanda, have lodged a complaint with the State Regulatory Commission demanding action against the management. They have accused its Chairman RK Abhilashi of mental harassment and torture and exploiting their services for marketing. They have not even received salaries for four months.

The lecturers have sent a written complaint to the grievance cell of the commission against the chairman charging him of assigning non-teaching work to them and paying their salaries after six months. They said their complaint against the management submitted to an inspection team from Himachal Pradesh Technical University, Hamirpur, this year, was dumped by the university and no action had been taken so far.

The lecturers complained that there were 19 other lecturers who were sent out on marketing assignments in different parts of the region from November 30 for three to five days to roll fresh students for the institute for the coming session. Most of them did not dare to blow the whistle against the chairman-cum-owner of the Abhilashi group as they feared losing their jobs, though they were appointed as lecturers by the Abhilashi management not as marketing agents.

After the lecturers were refused to sign the attendance register at the college, two lecturers Shivali Rathaur and Vandana Sharma said they were being mentally harassed and tortured by the chairman. “We opposed to the marketing assignment at Baldwara because we were asked to stay at Abhilashi’s relative Shashi Nayak’s residence for five days.” The chairman not only shouted at them, but threatened to show them the door when they took up the matter with him, they alleged.

The lecturers said they had not been paid salaries for June-July 2011 and for October-November this year and an advance salary for December.

The lecturers have been assigned advertisement works as well without taking their consent. The teaching staff is limited and teachers are overburdened as they are asked to do non-teaching work as well, which violates the labour law, insiders charged.

Meanwhile, the chairman said he had sent the staff on official duties and paid them lodging and boarding and transportation expenses also. “Only two teachers objected to the assignment and they have been relieved with their salaries deposited in their bank accounts,” he claimed and denied any harassment. 

Mandi, December 9
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau on Friday booked six contractors and the then officials with the Public Works Department (PWD) in Bilaspur and Ghumarwin divisions for their involvement in the racket of the upgrade of contractors from Class B to A.

The charges were a part of the charge sheet of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the previous Congress regime. Vigilance had completed the inquiry into the racket, which was unearthed after the BJP formed the government.

In one case, Vigilance booked three contractors, Surender Pal, Manohar Lal and Anil Kumar, under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC and Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Vigilance found that they were wrongly upgraded after they were issued fake work certificates.

According to Vigilance, the certificates were issued by two Class A contractors, Narayan Madan and Lachman Chouhan. It was pointed out in the inquiry report that they had violated a government notification prohibiting the allotment of Class A work to Class B contractors. Vigilance also booked the Class A contractors and the then PWD officials.

In the other case, Vigilance booked contractor Chandu Ram and the then PWD officials under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC and Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Vigilance found that the Class B contractor was issued a fake work certificate by the then Executive Engineer.

He was then upgraded to Class A in violation of the government notification. Vigilance found that the contractor was not eligible for the upgrade. Vigilance Superintendent of Police Virender Sharma said the cases were lodged as the inquiry was complete.

Nurpur, December 9
The Jawali police is yet to nab murder accused Ravi Kumar of Anuhi village. Ravi had allegedly murdered Kaka Ram (24), a student of the ITI, Shahpur, on November 16. After identifying the accused on November 19 and collecting vital clues against him, the police had launched a massive hunt for him, but failed to trace him.

Jawali DSP Sanjay Sharma said several police teams were dispatched to nab the culprit within and outside the state and were still camping there, but so far they could not ascertain his whereabouts. He said a sharp-edged weapon used for the murder was also yet to be recovered. The police had registered a murder case under Section 302 of the IPC against him. In the preliminary investigations, no personal enmity was found between the deceased and the accused.

It may be recalled that the deceased had left home for the ITI around 8.30 am on November 16, but he was attacked by Ravi on the way. The accused had fled after committing crime. 

Sundernagar, December 9
While allowing a complaint filed by Vimal Walia of Behna village (owner of vehicle No HP-65-2186), Mandi district, regarding charging for repairs, while the vehicle was within the warranty period, the consumer forum, Mandi, has directed Swaraj Mazda Ltd, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh; DS Diesels, Beri, Bilaspur district; and Sai Motors, Sauli Khad, Mandi, to pay the repair charges of Rs 22,500, along with interest at 9 per cent per annum, Rs 1,500 as compensation and Rs 1,000 as cost of litigation.

The complainant had purchased a Swaraj Mazda vehicle from the opposite party No. 3, dealer of the company, for Rs 7,95,000 on June 18, 2010.

The local dealer charged Rs 1,125 for minor repairs from the complainant. Later, when a defect was found in the fuel pump, the opposite party No. 3 asked the complainant to get the fuel pump repaired from the opposite party No. 2.

The opposite party No. 2 charged Rs 22,500 for the repair of the fuel pump.

The complainant said the opposite parties charged wrongly for repairs as the vehicle was under warranty period.

However, the opposite parties said repairs were not covered under the warranty terms and conditions.

The forum held that the opposite parties No. 1 and 2 had wrongly charged for the repair of the fuel pump, which was covered under warranty.

Bilaspur, December 9
The police has not been able to trace four of the 53 children reported missing in the district between 2009 and 2011, said Deputy Commissioner Ritesh Chauhan while presiding over a meeting of the District Child Safety Committee here on Thursday. He added that 49 children were recovered and handed over to their parents.

He said one child was missing since 2009, another since 2010 and two since 2011. Presiding over a meeting of the District Crime Control and Rehabilitation Board, Chauhan said the state government had implemented in September a scheme to help rape victims in their rehabilitation. — OC