Shimla, December 17
State Congress president Virbhadra Singh is unlikely to get relief from the Election Commission (EC) in the complaint filed by him against the BJP and some news channels regarding the airing of manipulated stories aimed at maligning his image and the party.

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has virtually rejected the claims of the Congress leader who had made a formal complaint with Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampat that some news channels had manipulated a story against him that some payments were allegedly made to him by a steel firm.

The CEO in his reply to the EC today has termed the said news within the realm of investigative journalism and the right to freedom of speech and expression enjoyed by the media as enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution. The EC had sought a reply from the CEO on the complaint lodged by Virbhadra.

In his reply, CEO Narinder Chauhan said on a close examination of the CD of the news regarding the alleged payments, it was found that the news channel had tried to portray a larger issue regarding the banking system and not so much to target any individual.

He also opined that the news telecast by the channel focused on the nexus that existed between corporate houses and bureaucracy.

Chauhan, who viewed the CD supplied by the news channel thrice along with experts from the Information and Public Relation Department and Doordarshan, said while one English news channel sent in its reply with a copy of the CD of the programme aired, the other Hindi channel did not respond at all which resulted in the delay in filing of the reply to the EC.

The Congress chief claimed that the news story was speculative and purely politically motivated and, above all, its timing was interesting.

“Though the diary was supposed to have been found sometime in 2010, it took the channel so long to file the story on the eve of elections,” he remarked.

He said the sole objective of these unfounded false and fictitious stories was to harm him and the Congress campaign in the state.

“The interest taken by the BJP in the telecast of the news and its follow-up in the print and electronic media makes it evident that the BJP was behind it in tandem with the news channel,” he complained.

He alleged that the story clearly appeared to be a “paid-off” one by the BJP.

Solan, December 17
A local court today remanded Kapil Dhiman of the Drug Licensing Authority, who was arrested yesterday in a case of disproportionate assets by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, in three-day police custody.

Vigilance Bureau sleuths produced him in the court this afternoon where the Judge remanded him in police custody till December 20.

The Vigilance officials were scrutinising the lengthy records of various properties possessed by him and his close kin and also his partnerships in pharmaceutical units.

The arrest of the official has severely tarnished the image of the Drug Control Administration in the area and pharmaceutical firms from Solan and Sirmaur had been repeatedly figuring on the list of erring firms whose drug samples have been failing to confirm to the standard quality.

A case of a Paonta-Sahib-based firm illegally manufacturing sedative drugs that were supplied to rave parties in metro cities had come to light in November last year during a raid conducted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.

Dhiman, who is looking after the licensing works of six districts, including Sirmaur, Shimla, Kinnaur, Bilaspur, Una and some areas of Solan since May 2008, has been serving in Solan for the past three years. The official had earlier, too, been caught accepting bribe in 1995 while he was serving as a drug inspector at Kangra and Chamba. He had remained suspended for nine months in 1995-96.

This was the second case where an official of the drug control administration had come under the scanner of the Vigilance Bureau.

Earlier, a drug inspector was caught accepting bribe a few years ago, though his case could not proceed further due to hassles in procuring prosecution sanction.

In February 2008, the then Drug Controller, Sher Singh, was nabbed in Baddi with Rs 4.72 lakh cash. A case of disproportionate assets was also registered against him and he was convicted later.

Shimla, December 17
State BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti today said the statement of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit that one could easily manage to run home within Rs 600 per month added insult to injury considering the plight of a common man.

Satti said it was shocking how Sheila could make such a statement. “It appears that she is getting ration for free or else how can she not know the prices of foodgrains,” he said.

He said if she was so good at managing home then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should have assigned her the task of managing these affairs.

He condemned the UPA regime for such attitude.

Satti said Planning Commission’s vice-chairman had earlier said those earning Rs 26 in rural areas and Rs 32 in urban areas did not fall in the BPL category.

Mandi, December 17
The oldest 110-MW Shanan power project run by the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) on the Uhal river at Jogindernagar has shut down its three machines and is producing just 24 MW of electricity every day.

As a result of this shut down, the electricity supply to Mandi town was interrupted at regular intervals as the board was resorting to unscheduled short power cuts for the last few days. The load-shedding and power cuts could worsen as the water level of the Uhal will reduce further in January and February, cautioned engineers.

The Shanan power house was producing 7-8 lakh units of electricity these days. The Barot channel had receded as the water flow in the Uhal had receded drastically since November, the PSEB engineers said.

The plight of Shanan and state electricity-run 105-MW Uhal-II was understandable as both the projects depend on the Uhal. Moreover, these projects can starve to death once 15 per cent of the Uhal water is released downstream, as per the mandatory discharge, needed for its maintenance.

So far, it was not mandatory for the Shanan power house to release the discharge as the project was commissioned in 1934 and the case was pending in the high court, sources said.

Shanan power house resident engineer Kuldip Singh said they had no option other than shutting down the three machines. Only the two machines worth 24 MW capacity were running these days. But the power supply to Mandi town was not reduced as they were feeding the required 4 MW of electricity daily to the Paddar substation, he said.

The power generation will continue to decrease further till March when the water level starts rising due to melting of snow in the catchments of the river.

The Mandi town gets about 4 MW of electricity from the Shanan power house ever since this oldest project was commissioned in 1934, following an agreement between the then king of Mandi state and the Punjab Government under the ruling British.

The Shanan power house feeds 4 MW of electricity to the paddar substation and rest of the power to the Pathankot grid.

The PSEB denied reports that the machines were old and jaded that brought power generation to halt. “We have renovated the machines in 1972 and 2003 and maintenance is regular,” Singh said. 

Power Plight

The situation of Shanan and state electricity-run 105 MW Uhal-II is understandable as both the projects depend on the Uhal. Moreover, these projects can starve to death once 15 per cent of the Uhal water is released downstream, as per the mandatory discharge, needed for its maintenance

Shimla, December 17
The state high court has sought an explanation from the Chief Secretary as to what steps the state has taken for strengthening the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SV&ACB).

It passed this order after perusing the affidavit filed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) wherein the IGP, Vigilance, has furnished details of Vigilance cases pending with them for investigation and explaining reasons for the delay in the investigation.

It has submitted that there is a low strength of investigation officers and they are not at par with the desirable level required for handling corruption cases.

He further explained that due to immense workload, complexity of cases and paucity of resources, the Vigilance Bureau is unable to attract the right kind of talent required to investigate such cases.

On the issue of not giving timely prosecution sanction in corruption-related cases by senior government functionaries, the Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rajiv Sharma has cautioned officials that in case they did not complete the process regarding the request for sanction for prosecution within the three-month period, they were liable to answer the charge of aiding the delay in prosecution, which was one of the factors for not getting effective prosecution and, in that event, needless to say, officers would be personally responsible for all the consequences, apart from contempt proceedings.

The court passed this order after having come across an instance of a vigilance case that was still not investigated even after over three years.

The Bench further directed the Chief Secretary to file a report after convening the next meeting with the officers concerned as to whether there is any case pending before the government for prosecution sanction, which is delayed by over three months.

Kangra, December 17
A team of 13 students of the University of Denver, United States, visited DAV School, Narwana, today and interacted with students and staff over different social, cultural and historical issues.

Principal Parveen Shivpuri said the team was headed by Dr Nicole Willork of the US university and exchanged ideas about the pattern of education, curriculum and method of teaching. The team was also brought closer to the Indian cultural heritage through different culture programmes and dances.

She said the US students enjoyed dances of different states, particularly the Nati. Dr Willork said India had a great cultural heritage and he was impressed by it. The team would complete its one-month tour of the Kangra valley on December 31, 2012, he added.

The team was apprised about the different Shakti peeths and tourist resorts of this hill state and asked to visit these. Dr Willork visited Sankalp, an NGO at Dharamsala, and exchanged views with organisers of this social organisation. 

Shimla, December 17
Expressing dissatisfaction over the slow pace of work on the construction of the Auckland Tunnel Bridge, the state High Court today directed the project contractor to employ as many as 25 workers each at both the ends of the bridge and see that the work was completed expeditiously.

The court further directed the Chief Secretary to have meetings convened immediately with regard to the use of vacant space available after the construction of the Auckland Bridge and submit a report within two weeks.

The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary, passed this order on a petition filed by Tarlok Chauhan on the issue of the non-implementation of the plans under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in Shimla.

The petitioner said the state government and its agencies were lacking coordination to implement the projects identified under the JNNURM. The petitioner said the Centre had sanctioned crores for Shimla in 2006. He added that the state had failed to utilise the amount sanctioned by the Centre.

In another matter pertaining to traffic congestion in Shimla, the state High Court had directed the state government to deliberate on the feasibility of a flyover between the Victory Tunnel from the Vidhan Sabha area and the gurdwara and submit a report to the court.

The government would also address feasibility measures suggested in the NIT report and submit it to the court within three weeks. The court passed the order on a report filed by the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, which had suggested the feasibility measures for decongestion of traffic in the town. 

The petition

The state government and its agencies are lacking coordination in implementing projects identified under the JNNURM. The Centre had sanctioned crores for Shimla in 2006, but the state has failed to utilise the amount sanctioned by the Central Government.

Shimla, December 17
A week-long programme on “Orientation to Forensic Science” for public prosecutors commenced at the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Junga, here today.

Inaugurating the programme, Director of Prosecution BS Pathania advised the trainees to keep abreast of the various developments in the field of forensic science so that scientific reports of crime could be presented effectively in the courts of law for the dissemination of justice.

Experts from the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Regional Forensic Science Laboratories at Dharamsala and Mandi would provide theoretical knowledge and practical training to the trainees on computer crime, DNA profiling, narcotic drugs, trap cases, poisoning cases and heinous crimes like suicide and murder.

Chamba, December 17
As many as eight old-age pensioners of Chamba district were honoured at a function organised under the aegis of the District Pensioners’ Welfare Association to mark All-India Pensioners Day at the Bachat Bhawan here today.

HP Pensioners Welfare Association state spokesperson PC Oberoy presided over the function and presented a Himachali shawl and cap to the eight pensioners, who had crossed the age of 84 years.

Kishori Lal Parashar, a 94-year-old pensioner, who was the special invitee on this occasion, also spoke and appealed to the retirees to maintain good health.

As many as 200 pensioners of the district participated were present on the occasion. 

Dharamsala, December 17
The usage of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, is limited to a small fraction of urban areas of the country. Though the Consumer Protection Act was enacted in 1986, during the past 25 years only 37 lakh consumers have filed complaints with the redressal mechanism set up under the Act. Even out of that only a small fraction of people were from rural areas.

Experts have revealed these facts on the occasion of the silver jubilee of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

A seminar was organised at the Government College of Teacher Education, Dharamsala, in collaboration with the Centre for Consumer Studies, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, on Thursday to mark the occasion.

Former Justice and ex-president of the HP State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission AK Goel while speaking on the occasion said at present the usage of the Act was limited to literate class of society.

A majority of illiterate or semi-literate population residing in rural areas that form a majority of the consumers were still not exercising the power provided under the Act, he said.

He said there was a need to educate the rural and illiterate masses about the Act.

Suresh Misra, Professor and coordinator, IIPA, New Delhi, said consumers were facing a number of issues like spurious products, deficiency in services like banking, insurance, medical and telecommunications and unfair trade practice being resorted to by the business.

The aim of the seminar is to empower consumers by educating them about the Act and also create awareness about consumer rights and the three-tier mechanism for the redressal of consumer grievances.

He said in a major study on the “Impact of the Consumer Protection Act” carried out by the Centre for Consumer Studies, IIPA, it had been found that lack of awareness about the Act was a major hindrance in its implementation. A majority of the consumers in the country were not even aware about the existence of this Act.

About 250 participants, including teachers, students, government officials, municipal and panchayat elected members and members of the civil society, participated in the two-day seminar and deliberated on various issues affecting consumers in the market-driven economy.

Shimla, December 17
Union Minister for Commerce Anand Sharma and former HPCC chief today met Union Home Minister Sushil Shinde in New Delhi and urged him to review the decision to withdraw the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) guarding sensitive areas of Chamba bordering Jammu and Kashmir.

The two leaders impressed upon the Union Minister that the withdrawal of the ITBP could jeopardise the state’s security as the force was guarding over 200 km of the border in the precipitous hilly terrain.

They also brought to his notice the gruesome incidents in which over 45 persons were killed by terrorists in the area adjacent to Doda and Kathua districts after which the Central force was deployed along the inter-state border.

There had been no untoward incident in the area ever since the ITBP was deployed.

They also stressed that the state did not have enough forces, and in case it had to deploy its own force to guard the border, it would have to incur a huge expenditure. Fund-starved Himachal was not in a position to bear the additional expenditure.

They expressed apprehensions that the move could reactivate terrorist groups that had been lying low for the past quite some time.

Kaul Singh said Shinde had assured them that he would look into the matter and consider their demand ascertaining the views of the Director-General of the ITBP and other officers concerned.

Nurpur, December 17
The Kukher Cooperative Agriculture Society (CAS) in Jawali sub-division has got the second prize in the country for its overall performance in the banking sector activities in 2010-11.

The society will be awarded this prize by National Federation of State Cooperative Banks Ltd, Mumbai, in its national seminar, scheduled to be held on December 20, at the National Cooperative Union of India auditorium in New Delhi.

The society topped the charts for its overall performance in the state during 2010-11.

Chief advisor Sushil Kumar and Kukher CAS president Kartar Singh Katoch said the hard work of society members towards the cooperative banking sector had helped in achieving the targets.

They said the CAS had not only achieved its target, but also crossed it to 160 per cent in the cooperative banking activities during 2010-11.

“The CAS is rendering loans for vehicles, house construction and education and even providing cash credit limits to local traders. Apart from this, as many as 2,000 MNREGA workers have their accounts with the CAS,” they said.

The CAS had also launched kisan credit card facility for farmers in April this year, they added.

The CAS has been operating for three gram panchayats Kukher, Nadolli and Seuni in Jawali sub-division.

Nurpur, December 17
The local police today registered a case against four persons of Talara village for allegedly stopping Kushal Pathania of the same village when he was returning from Ganoh last night and thrashing him severely. Three out of the four accused have been identified as Jodha Singh, Harpal and Kuka. All four are brothers.

DSP Rajinder Jaswal said, a case under Sections 323, 341, 506 and 34, IPC, had been registered against them and medical examination of the injured complainant conducted. — OC