Shimla, March 13
Pandemonium in the Assembly continued for the second day today as BJP legislators, seeking a debate on the issue of changing of schemes named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, resorted to sloganeering and finally staging a walkout.

The moment the House assembled to take up the business listed for the day, Speaker BBL Butail sought the cooperation of the members in the smooth running of the House. He said the Chief Minister had already apprised the House that no discussion could be held under the Indian Telegraph Act on the issue of phone tapping and no details could be divulged.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said phone tapping was a serious offence and the Indian Telegraph Act prohibited the disclosure of interception details. He added that no information in this regard could be divulged till the completion of the probe.

Efforts made by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, too, failed to convince the Opposition, who had heated exchanges over the issue of closure of schools by the Congress regime.

Notwithstanding the repeated assurances by the Speaker to BJP legislators, including Rajeev Bindal, Suresh Bhardwaj and Ravinder Ravi that they would be given time later during the session, the entire Opposition was on its feet. They raised slogans against the government and in honour of Vajpayee. Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister PK Dhumal also urged Butail to fix a time under any rule so that they could raise the issue of change of names of schemes and shifting of offices by the Congress regime.

Dhumal said considering the sensitivity of the issue, which involved public sentiment, time should be given as two adjournment notices had been given by BJP legislators on phone tapping and change of names of schemes under Rule 67. He added that after the presentation of the Budget tomorrow, there would be no time for discussion till March 31 as the debate on Budget proposals would begin.

As the Speaker rejected the plea of the BJP members, they started raising slogans against the “dictatorial” attitude of the government, which they alleged was acting with vendetta. Finally, the Question Hour was taken up amidst complete din, which carried on for almost an hour. After the Question Hour was over, the BJP legislators staged a walkout raising anti-government slogans. 

Bone of Contention Issue of closure of schools by the Congress Change of names of schemes Shifting of offices by govt

Shimla, March 13
The Congress regime will hold an inquiry into the leasing of forest rest houses and camping sites for eco-tourism projects by the previous BJP regime to find out if any undue favour had been given to the company.

The issue was raised by Congress legislator Asha Kumar during the Question Hour in the Assembly today. She said it was strange that all the three forest rest houses as well as the three camping sites had been given to a single party and that, too, at a paltry amount of Rs 15,000 as security amount.

She said the forest rest house at Dalhousie was virtually being run like a five-star resort and the daily room fare was Rs 1,500.

Replying to the query, Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri said the government would hold an inquiry into the issue. He said that all the three rest houses at Ala in Chamba, Kangra and Dhuandevi in Mandi had been given out to Gaurav Jain of Nagpur under eco-tourism scheme for a period of five years.

He said the agreement for the two rest houses at Kangra and Dhuandevi had been cancelled as they were not functioning. Similarly, out of the three camping sites, only one at Shoghi was in operation. He admitted that the rest house at Ala, near Dalhousie, had been given out at a sum of Rs 4.10 lakh with an annual instalment of Rs 82,000. “We will hold an inquiry and find out if there has been any violation of norms and the agreement that was signed with the private party,” he told the House.

In reply to a question about the Apple Rejuvenation project raised by Rohit Thakur of the Congress, Horticulture Minister Vidya Stokes said though an area of 5,000 hectares was to be covered, so far only 170 hectares had been covered. She added that under the scheme started in 2010-11, a total of 1,623 growers had been imparted training.

Replying to a query by Himachal Lokhit Party MLA Maheshwar Singh about problems being faced by the residents of old towns like Mandi, Kullu and Dharamsala because of the shortcoming in the Town and Country Planning Act, Minister In-charge Sudhir Sharma said the government proposed to make some amendments in the Act keeping in view the problems being faced by the people.

Maheshwar also raised the issue of monkey menace, which had destroyed farming activity in many parts of the state and sought an effective strategy to tackle it. Bharmauri assured that all possible steps were being taken and besides the existing four sterilisation centre, four new ones would soon start functioning.

Shimla, March 13
Not left untouched by the nationwide slowdown, the growth rate of the state has been pegged at 6.2 per cent for the current year against 7.4 growth recorded in 2011-12.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh presented the Economic Survey-2012-13 in the state Assembly today. Even as the state draws solace from the fact that its growth rate is higher than the national growth rate of five per cent, some major sectors, including power, forest, construction and community and personnel services have been adversely impacted. In 2010-11, the state had recorded a growth of 8.7 per cent.

The Chief Minister said containment of inflation remained the top priority of his government. He added that concerted efforts had been made to improve the efficiency and quality of public services delivery.

The per capita income (PCI), which touched the level of Rs 74,694 last year, is likely to touch Rs 82,611 during this year. The gross state domestic product (GSDP) on current prices, which last year stood at Rs 63,812, according to advanced estimates, is likely to be about Rs 72,076. However, the growth rate during the 11th plan (2007-2012) is the same at eight per cent both for Himachal as well as at the national level. The credit deposit ratio of the state is 69.29.

As per the figures in the Economic Survey for the current year, there has been a decline of 1.8 per cent in power sector and almost 12 per cent in the community and personnel services sector. Similarly, the forest sector has also registered a decline of 1.5 per cent and the construction sector by almost two per cent.

Food grain and fruit production has shown a marginal increase over the previous year. The food grain production is estimated at 15.80 lakh tonnes against 15.54 lakh tonnes in 2011-12, the fruit production increased to 4.67 lakh tonnes from 3.73 lakh tonnes last year.

As per the latest survey, the state has 494 medium and large industries and 38,592 small scale enterprises in which Rs 16,588.65 crore capital stands invested. This industrial sector is providing employment to about 2.11 lakh people in a state where unemployment is a major area of concern.

Under MNREGA, which was implemented in the states from April 2008, a total of 159.36 lakh man days of work has been generated and employment provided to 4,11,828 families. A total of 1.60 crore tourists visited the state, including five lakh foreign visitors.

Shimla, March 13
Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal said today that though no discussion could be held in the House on the issue of phone tapping due to the provision of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, the party was exploring all the possible legal options, including moving court.

Interacting with mediapersons, he said all the legal aspects would be examined. “Can we challenge the provisions of the Act and, moreover, the Speaker has given a direction that no question pertaining to phone tapping can be raised in the House,” he said.

When asked if the BJP would continue with its protest in the House, he said a decision would be taken by the BJP Legislature party later. “We fully respect the Speaker, but it is due to the adamant attitude of the government that discussion was not allowed on the issue of rechristening schemes named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” he said. Justifying the walkout, he said had a discussion been held on the issue, the House would have run smoothly.

Later talking to mediapersons, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said it was the BJP which had changed names of several Centrally sponsored schemes, including the Rajiv Gandhi Aawas Yojna and Paprola College. “The BJP is unnecessarily trying to create a mountain out of a mole hill and stall the House,” he said.

He said the behaviour of the Opposition was “unjust” as the government was not shying away from a debate, but it was the Speaker, who had to take the final call on when the debate would be held.

"Instead of resorting to sloganeering, they should respect the Chair of Speaker and maintain decorum of the House," he said.

Dharamsala, March 13
Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Technical Education GS Bali, who had been undergoing treatment for fracture in chest ribs, left Kangra today to attend the Budget session in Shimla.

While talking to The Tribune, Bali said though the doctors had advised him complete rest, he wanted to attend the session during the Budget speech by the Chief Minister tomorrow.

“I shall be attending the Budget session from tomorrow onwards” he said.

Bali was injured in an accident near Delhi about a fortnight ago. He sustained fracture in three chest ribs. He was undergoing treatment at Fortis hospital, Kangra, for the past few days.

Bali said he should also be attending the office so that the work in the ministries held by him was not hit.

Solan, March 13
Additional Sessions Judge KK Sharma sentenced Vijay Kumar, son of BJP leader Netar Singh of Kather village, and Naresh Kumar of Lokari village to 10-year rigorous imprisonment and fined them Rs 10,000 for raping a girl.

The case pertains to November 2008, when the victim was staying in a hotel at Solan as she got late to leave for her house at Kohari village, Kandaghat, after meeting her friend Rajesh. The duo had dinner at a hotel on the bypass and went off to sleep.

Investigations revealed that when the woman was sleeping in her room, hotel manager Naresh Kumar entered her room through the bathroom window and gagged her. She tried to wake up her friend up, but he was in a heavily inebriated state and did not respond. Naresh then called Vijay Kumar to the room, who forcibly took the woman to an adjoining room, where they raped her.

The woman and her friend later lodged a complaint with the police.

Since Vijay Kumar is the son of a BJP leader, the case had gone through “various twists” with the victim even backtracking from her complaint initially. She had even blamed the police for having forced her to give a “fake complaint” against the culprit and produced an “affidavit” before the media in support of her statement.

The prosecution examined 20 witnesses to prove the guilt of the accused, while the defence examined four witnesses. 

Solan, March 13
Dr Luqman Khan, Vice-Chancellor of Mohammed Ali Jauhar University, Rampur , said meeting new challenges in cutting edge technologies, particularly in biosciences and their convergence through interdisciplinary approach, was the need of the hour.

He was addressing the delegates at the first national annual conference of “Him Science Congress Association” hosted by Shoolini University on “Science -Emerging Scenario and Future Challenges.” The conference, which was attended by 160 scientists from science and technology institutions of the state and the adjoining states, concluded last evening.

Prof PK Khosla, Vice-Chancellor, Shoolini University, emphasised the need to maintain quality and credibility of research and develop competent human capital in science and technology.

Speakers invited from various fields spoke on areas of their expertise. Prof VK Gupta, IIT Roorkee, in his keynote address focused on research which could address key issue like sustainable development.

Prof KR Dhiman, Vice-Chancellor, YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, while addressing the delegates on the concluding day stressed the need for developing environment-friendly technologies.

Nurpur, March 13
Four unidentified crew members of three trucks were reportedly charred to death and two other sustained serious burn injuries when three trucks caught fire on colliding at Damtal in this subdivision bordering Pathankot (Punjab) this evening.

According to information, one truck loaded with crushed stone was coming from Pathankot towards Damtal when it lost its control and collided with two trucks (HR 37D-0069) and (HR 38Z-0565) coming from the side opposite. The intensity of the collision was so colossal that all three trucks caught fire.

After losing control the loaded truck first entered a roadside tyres’ shop and damaged it. However, its owner had a narrow escape. The truck then hit an electricity poll near the shop and a live electricity wire fell on it causing a devastating fire. Then it hit other two trucks coming from the opposite side.

The local Damtal police station and the DSP and the SDM, Nurpur, reached the spot and two fire tenders from Pathankot were requisitioned which took two hours to douse the fire. The police with the help of locals have been extricating the charred bodies till the filing of this report.

Shimla, March 13
After securing a Rs 550-crore development policy loan from the World Bank, the state is seeking another Rs 500 crore under the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) programme of the bank to promote environmentally sustainable growth.

The CTF has been created to provide support for projects and initiatives for both mitigation and adaptation measures to be taken up to cope with climate change across various sectors through a long-term comprehensive plan. A team of officers will hold negotiations with World Bank representatives at Delhi on March 23 at which the initiatives proposed by the state will be discussed at length. Himachal will be the first state to take advantage of the CTF.

Official sources said the focus of the projects being proposed included study of glaciers, which were receding at a fast pace and had an impact on hydroelectric projects, agriculture, horticulture, tourism and other sectors.

The mitigation plan for hydroelectric projects measures will be based on the cumulative environment impact assessment being undertaken for the five river basins on which projects are coming up.

The maximum attention is being paid to this sector as the Government of India is keen to scale-up hydropower resources so that it can meet the immediate power demand needs without compromising its climate change objectives. The CTF will help fast-track these developments by addressing some of the barriers that still remain in one of the key hydropower states. The intent is to implement a framework that would spur hydropower development in the country from its current level of 31 per cent to 70 per cent over a period of 10 years.

In the tourism sector, the initiatives will be taken for diversion of tourist traffic from busy destinations like Shimla, Manali and Rohtang Pass to the unexplored areas. The increasing congestion in these tourist places had not only increased the carbon footprint but also put a question mark on their sustainability.

The receding glaciers and declining precipitation in the hills will have maximum impact on agriculture and horticulture. The focus in these sectors will be on adaptation to ensure sustainability and productivity. The initiatives like payment for environment services will also be encouraged to provide direct financial benefits to the local people for preserving the environment.

Kangra, March 13
Farmers should come forward and adopt high-yielding varieties along with improved technology. Only then oilseeds production can further be increased in the state as there is a deficit of 40 per cent in oilseeds production to that of the total national consumption.

Dr KS Thakur, in charge, Shivalik Agricultural Research and Extension Centre, Kangra, of Chaudhary Shrawan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, said this while addressing more than 250 farmers of the six blocks of Kangra district on the occasion of Tilhan Diwas-cum-Kisan Gosthi organised by the centre yesterday. He said although the country was self reliant in grain production and exporting to other countries also, yet was deficit in oilseed production.

Thakur said one advantage of rapeseed- mustard was that it could be cultivated in rainfed conditions successfully. The water requirement of these crops was less as compared to wheat and in areas where monkey menace was a problem. He suggested that if farmers had less land holding for cultivation, mixed cropping of rapeseed-mustard with wheat and other pulses was the best option.

In Kisan Gosthi, a farmer-scientist interaction was organised where problems of farmers related to agriculture were addressed.

Dr Sarvesh Gupta from the Animal Husbandry Department told the farmers about the diseases which inflicted the animals in this area and reasons of low productivity in the animals.

Representative from Advanta, Vivek Sharma gave information about quality gobhi sarson Hyola 401 and a high-protein grass being marketed by them.

Dr SS Rana from the Regional Horticultural Research Centre, Jach, addressed queries about mango, litchi and guava and gave a correct sequence of the events for cultivation.

Dr Ajay Srivastva replied queries about insect-pest and termite problems.

The farmers were taken around for demonstrations on various crops at the research farm and made aware of improved technologies.

Dr Anil Kumar thanked the farmers and officials who had participated.

Mandi, March 13
The court of District and Sessions Judge, Mandi, Virender Singh, today convicted six members of the Board of Directors of Mandi Urban Cooperative Bank Limited in a case of embezzlement of bank funds. However, 10 other members of the bank were acquitted. The Judge has reserved the quantum of sentence for March 19.

The verdict was announced today after conducting a marathon trial, which took almost eight years. The Judge convicted the then president after MP Sehgal and other board members of the bank, Manjit Singh Dhamija, Ajit Kapur, Anil Kapur, Nitin Kapur and Mahesh Behl.

He found them guilty of criminal conspiracy and mistrust under IPC sections.

The staff members of the bank were acquitted as they were not found guilty in the case.

The police had registered the case in April 2005 after the RBI shut down all transaction of the bank following a case of misappropriation and embezzlement of funds of depositors came to light.

The police had arrested all the accused in the case in April 2005 after an FIR was lodged and filed the challan in the court subsequently.

The Bank Depositors’ Sangharsh Samiti had launched a long struggle to bring the bank back in operation, demanding strict action against the guilty. 

Kangra, March 13
The state government yesterday decided that within 72 hours, Food and Supplies Department officials would conduct raids on ration depots to verify whether consumable items were being delivered to consumers within one month after being received by the depot holder, and orders were issued to keep a consumers’ complaint register available at the depot.

Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Technical Education Minister GS Bali said this while addressing a press conference in Fortis Hospital yesterday, where he was under treatment following his road accident in Haryana on March 2. Bali said Food and Civil Supplies Director BC Bhadwalia was asked to take appropriate action and the depot holders who after the receipt of the food and other consumable items from the department were found not selling these till one-month period, their depot licences should be cancelled.

He said computerised ration cards would be entertained by all the depots in the state for the one-month period.

Bali asked the consumers to register their complaints in the depot complaint register or convey it on toll free number 1800 180 8026. He said depot holders should exhibit the timing and working day outside the depot.

He said from next month, mustard oil and some more varieties of pulses would be sold as subsidised items at fair price shops.

The minister said efforts were on for re-tendering to make available, the best quality consumable food items at low price for people of the state.

He expressed concern that the previous BJP government had left the Civil Supplies Corporation with an additional burden of Rs 122 crore against the Rs 150-crore budget. He said the government was involved in fiscal management to ease out the corporation from this financial mess.

Regarding the less weight of LPG cylinders, Bali said the government was not in the know of it. However, the Centre and the state government would ensure that consumers would get full quantity of LPG at their doorsteps and a meeting in this connection with the senior officers of the department and LPG distributors was held under Bali’s chairmanship on Tuesday.

He said he would seek help from NGOs and senior citizens forums to conduct raids on ration depotsm, along with Food and Supplies Department officials to stem out the rot from the system. 

Hamirpur, March 13
The state government will soon start online process to obtain applications for food safety licences to facilitate licence holders by reducing paper work.

After introduction of this system, shop owners and people running business establishments will not have to visit the offices of the food safety licensing authorities. Instead, they can submit their request online from their places by uploading scanned copies of required documents.

The online applications can be filed with district medical health officers (MHO), all technically trained persons and through Lok Mitra Kendras.

The applicants will have the liberty to submit physical application along with fee to the authorities within 15 days after making online requests by posts, through messengers or submit the same personally.

While applicants will be informed about any deficiency in the application forms regarding documents, they will be getting updates through e-mails and alert SMS regarding status and progress in this regard from time to time.

For making the tracking of the status of applications easier, all the applicants will be given a 17 digit special ID number for future references and checking status.

While this will reduce the unusual rush in offices, the applicants will be saved from frequent visits to the offices of the licensing authorities as the food safety licenses will be issued within 60 days after depositing the fee.

This software has already been developed to implement this scheme in the state and the process is already on to train MOH and technical persons.

District Food Safety Officer Dr Atul Kayastha said, “The training is being imparted to persons concerned for using the software developed for accepting online requests for food safety licenses and this schemes will start functioning soon in the state”. 

Nurpur, March 13
As many as three dozen ration card holders in Pandrer gram panchayat under Nurpur block have submitted a written complaint to the Chief Minister, the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, and the Secretary, Food and Supplies, on overcharging of ration card renewal fee from Rs 5 to Rs 20 from consumers of ward numbers 1, 2 and 3.

Demanding a fair inquiry into the overcharging of the renewal fee, they also alleged the direct interference of gram panchayat pradhan Kamlesh Kumari’s husband in MNREGA works and partiality in undertaking rural works on political grounds.

Kamlesh Kumari admitted that in the beginning the panchayat secretary had charged Rs 10 against a fixed amount of Rs 5 for the renewal of the ration card. But she immediately stopped it. “I have asked the panchayat secretary to return the money to the applicants,”she said. She also denied her husband’s interference in carrying out panchayat development works.

Kiran Bala, panchayat secretary, admitted that she had charged Rs 10 in lieu of Rs 5 and claimed that an additional Rs 5 was meant for photostat expenses of the application form.

Kangra, March 13
The Kangra police was in search of an Army jawan who had allegedly kidnapped a minor girl from a village falling under Yol police post on January 3 and was untraceable.

Jail Lal, in charge, Yol police post, today said Yash Paul Arya, resident of Govindpuri village, Khal police station, Rewari district, Haryana, who was serving 235 Engineering Regiment and posted at Mishamari, Assam, had visited Yol and abducted a 17-year-old girl on January 3, last.

He said the police registered a case under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC under FIR No. 3/2013 against accused Yash, who could not be traced by the police for the last two and half months. Lal said Yash Paul was declared a military deserter too, as he did not report for his duty in Assam.

The police said any information about Yash could be passed on to the police on phone No. 01892-224883 and mobile No. 94181-03323. 

Chamba, March 13
The police arrested one person and seized 10 kg of nag chhatri at the Parel bridge on the outskirts of Chamba town last night, according to a report received here today.

The report said when a police party was on patrol, it intercepted Rumi Ram coming on foot at the Parel bridge. On searching his baggage 10 kg of nag chhatri was recovered from his possession.

Accordingly, the police registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Forest Act and the Indian Penal Code and arrested the accused. — OC