Shimla, July 25
Exactly seven months after taking over as Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh has started the operation “clean-up” in the industrial area of Baddi by ordering mass transfers of officers heading various departments. The Congress had made corruption and shady land deals during the previous BJP regime its main poll plank during the Assembly elections and had promised to take action against those guilty and provide a clean administration. The industrial area of Baddi had also earned a bad name for rampant corruption.

Baddi has emerged as a hub of the pharmaceutical industry due to incentives under the Central industrial package from 2003 to 2010 and during the period, the state drug controller and the field staff faced serious charges of corruption.

The government during the clean-up exercise shifted all three drug inspectors posted in the area last night. Others shifted from the area include the tehsildar, the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, the Executive Engineer of the State Electricity Board, the Deputy Director of Industries, Mining Officer, Solan District and Labour Officer.

Sources in the bureaucracy revealed that the transfers had been ordered despite immense pressure created by influential officers. Besides a number of complaints against officers and the feedback provided by industrialists, the government also observed their functioning and, thereafter, decided to shift them en masse.

On a strong footing after the big victory of Congress in the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, Virbhadra Singh has started asserting his authority. The government has also started inquiries into land deals and cases of violation under Section 118 of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act which debars non-agriculturists from acquiring land in the state without the prior permission of the government.

A probe is under way into the land and property transactions effected on the basis of the General Power of Attorney (GPA) and violation of the conditions imposed while granting permission for purchase of land under Section 118.

The Congress had made “Himachal on Sale” its main poll plank and has taken action only in one case and cancelled the land leased out to the Patanjali Yogpeeth of Swami Ramdev.

Dharamsala, July 25
The food security plan will be implemented in Himachal from August 20, the birthday of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Technical Education GS Bali gave this information while addressing a press conference at Mini Secretariat here today.

The minister said 32 lakh people would be covered under the programme under which wheat grains, rice and wheat flour would be provided at subsidised rates ranging from Rs 1 to Rs 3 per kg to residents.

A maximum of 50 per cent urban population and 75 per cent rural population could be covered under the programme.

The state government wants to cover the remaining population of 36 lakh also under the programme. However, it will put a financial burden of about Rs 300 crore. The matter is being taken up with the Union government.

He further said though the date for launching the programme had been finalised, the venue would be decided in consultation with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

While referring to media reports that Kangra was being ignored and no minister was sitting at the Dharamsala Secretariat, Bali said the tradition of making at least one minister sit at Dharamsala was started by the Congress government. He said, "I will sit in the Dharamsala Secretariat for one day in the first week of every month. I will also take up the matter with other ministers from the district," he said.

Talking about the Department of Transport, the minister said the previous government left HRTC under debt of Rs 500 crore. By adopting stringent measure during the last seven months, the debt burden had been reduced by Rs 35 crore. The HRTC would add a fleet 500 new buses to replace the condemned buses by raising a loan from HUDCO. This would help in improving the services and income of the HRTC.

Shimla, July 25
The Himalayan Niti Abhiyan (HNA), an apex body of an non-government organisation pursuing environment-related issues, has brought Uttarakhand and Himachal on a common platform to put pressure on the government for formulating a conducive model for the development of the region.

It has sent a detailed report on the Kedarnath disaster, after discussing the issue at a conclave organised in its aftermath and its recommendations, to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and various ministers at the Centre. It has underlined that the trans-Himalayan region be considered an area prone to earthquakes, floods and landslides and must be governed by a sensitive and conducive model of development to prevent such disasters in the long run.

Demanding a moratorium on hydroelectric projects in the region, it asserted that the ongoing projects must be stopped as an immediate action. The road construction activity should be properly regulated in accordance with the norms for hills and the Forest Right Act and PESA implemented in letter and spirit in this tribal region.

Geologically and environmentally safe areas must be identified and relief provided to the affected people for settlement and livelihood, even if certain forest areas are de-notified for the purpose. The government should provide land to farmers whose holdings have been washed away in floods.

The disaster, which affected the entire region from the Mahakali valley to the Sutlej valley, be declared a national calamity and there should be parity in providing relief and compensation. The affected people in both the states are facing the same kind of problems.

Compensation should be given to affected communities for the loss of life and livelihoods by the government which had overlooked the harmful effects of hydroelectric and mega infrastructure development projects. The promoter for projects should be made liable for the loss caused by disaster.

The HNA has decided to take up the issue with both the states and the Centre and it will organise a public meeting at Dehradun in October. The decision has been taken in consultation with groups of the Uttarakhand. It will also sensitise all the MPs and MLAs of the Himalayan region on the issue of climate change and adverse fallout of the present development model. Policy advocacy processes will be initiated for a national mountain sustainable development model.

Dharamsala, July 25
The district administration is awaiting response from the government to take action in Prashant Bhushan land case.

Sources said the issue might escalate again soon. The administration had sought a clarification from the state government in the case about two months ago that was still awaited.

Prashant Bhushan, a Supreme Court lawyer and social activist, had bought 6-hectare tea garden land in the name of the Kumad Bhushan Education Society at Kamlegarh village in Palampur. The society had earlier tried to get the permission for purchasing the land during the Congress government from 2003 to 2007. However, at that time the permission was denied.

It again applied for permission during the previous BJP government. The government asked the society to obtain essentiality certificate for buying the land from the Education Department of Himachal.

The sources said the department issued an essentiality certificate to the society for opening a school on the land.

The BJP government gave permission under Sections 6-A and 7-A of the Land Revenue Act and Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act to the society.

Previous Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, RS Gupta, issued a notice to the society in 2012, asking it to explain why it had not started construction on the land.

The society in its reply said it had already started construction on the land and sought an extension of one year from the government for completing the construction.

However, the Congress government came to power in the state. The Congress had already been targeting the BJP government for allowing a change in the nature of tea garden land for the society.

The Congress government wrote to the DC, Kangra, in January 2013, seeking a clarification on the land deal. The government asked the DC to find out if the society had put the land to use within 2 years and verify if the land was recorded under tea cultivation and whether permission to sell the land to the society had been sought by the sellers after completing all formalities. It also asked officials concerned to verify if the sellers had availed exemption from the ceiling limit under the HP ceiling on the land Holdings Act 1972.

Revenue officials informed the government that there was no violation on the points and the sellers had taken the permission from the government before selling it to the society.

However, the DC sought a clarification from the government on what action should be taken on the show-cause notice issued to the society by the previous DC regarding not completing building within the stipulated period of 2 years. Since the government had not given extension to the society for carrying out the construction, the government has to inform the district administration as to what action should be taken on the notice.

Solan, July 25
Call centres are harassing consumers by posing as BSNL employees and calling subscribers to collect their personal details.

These details are then sold to various companies. It all started when a Dagshai resident started receiving calls from various cell numbers of Tata Cellular where callers sought personal details such as profession, financial status, address, number of family members, etc.

On being repeatedly harassed by callers from various private cellphones, Rakesh Kumar got suspicious and lodged a complaint with BSNL officials about fake survey executives.

A probe found that some call centres were making such calls to people and collecting their personal information which was later passed on to insurance companies who use the information to enhance their customer base by making telemarketing calls.

Though making such calls is illegal as per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, people rarely bother to lodge complaints due to ignorance or innocently pass information to the callers.

However, the manner in which the callers have been using the platform of the BSNL to collect information has shocked the officials.

The officials after conducting a probe revealed that the phone number of customers was taken from shopping malls or utility outlets.

Chief General Manager, BSNL, Himachal, Pradeep Kumar said no such survey was being undertaken by the BSNL and no personal information should be disclosed to such callers as it could be misued. Action would be taken against such unauthorised callers for harrassing customers.

Shimla, July 25
The government proposes to introduce a different colour code to protect newcomers joining medical, dental and nursing colleges from ragging so that they can be identified from a distance.

Even though ragging in most colleges has been banned, the Department of Medical Education has placed before the government a proposal which will help identify freshers from a distance because of their uniform.

It was the death of Aman Kachru, a first-year medical student at Tanda Medical College in Kangra, which brought the focus on ragging nationwide.

The new colour code will come into force from this session at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, Government Dental College, Shimla, and Nursing College.

"The first-year MBBS students, who join the IGMC and Tanda Medical College, will have light green collars and buttons in their uniform while the seniors will have dark green collars and buttons," informed Kaul Singh Thakur, Health and Family Welfare Minister.

Thakur said as of now, it was difficult to identify them from a distance even if they were being ragged. "With a different-colour collar and buttons, they can be easily identified from a distance by the teaching faculty or other staff and can be helped," he said.

New students in Government Dental College will wear uniform with light blue collars and buttons while the seniors will have dark blue collars and buttons. In case of Nursing College, the first-year students will wear dress with light pink collars and buttons while for senior students, the colour of buttons and collar will be red.

The telephone numbers of all members and the local administration as well as the police are displayed in the colleges as well as hostels.

Shimla, July 25
A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), New Delhi, today gave a presentation on dealing with fake currency cases.

Inspector General of Police (IG) PVR Shastry, heading the Terror Finding of Fake Currency Cell of the NIA, along with other officials, detailed the features of fake currency identification and also elaborated on the legal inputs required for their investigation.

The collaboration with other agencies were also discussed at length.

More than 60 field officers and officials from the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau attended the workshop. Eight fake currency cases have so far been registered in Himachal with the total amount being Rs 2.74 lakh. The cases have been registered in Una (3), Sirmour, Kangra, Chamba, Kullu and Mandi.

Director General of Police B. Kamal Kumar had sought the help and guidance of the special cell on fake currency at the NIA to deal with such cases more professionally.

Useful tips were given by the NIA officials to the field officers to deal with the fake currency cases.

The NIA officers assured the Himachal Police of help and cooperation in dealing with such cases under investigation.

Hamirpur, July 25
A large number of residents of the town and surrounding areas were left without electricity and water supply for the past two days due to snags. This has exposed the preparedness of the electricity and Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) departments.

A major snag in a transformer on Tuesday night hit electricity supply to the town and many surrounding villages, plunging the area into darkness. Normal supply in many villages could be restored only after two days. The electricity supply in the town remained shut for nearly three hours and in Chabutra, Neri, Amroh, Drabaili, etc could be restored last evening, but residents of Jhaniara are still not getting supply.

Sources in Himachal Pradesh Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) said, “The failure of the authorities to carry regular maintenance of electricity lines and transformers is one of the reasons for such snags.”

“The lack of staff and coordination at different levels also resulted in the delay in restoring normal supply in many villages,” they said.

Superintending Engineer, HPSEBL, Hamirpur, TR Rattan said, “The supply was shut due to a snag in a transformer, which is maintained by the transmission wing.”

Similarly, a snag in a water lifting pump installed in the Beas, near Sujanpur, drawing water for the town and surrounding villages, had left a large number of residents without water supply for the past two days.

The pumps used for water had become defunct due to heavy discharge into the river as a result of heavy rain.

The normal water supply was yet to be restored in many villages and parts of Hamirpur, which got water today after a gap of two days.

Pradeep Thakur, a resident of Kuthera, said, “Many areas of Kuthera have not been getting water for a week.”

Executive Engineer, IPH, Hamirpur, Vijay Datwalia said, “The pumps installed in the Beas were damaged due to heavy discharge into the river and pumping remained suspended for two days, and we are working to restore normal water supply.”

Shimla, July 25
The government will soon reopen a Jan Aushdhi store at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here to ensure the availability of generic medicines at affordable prices to patients.

This was stated by Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh Thakur while presiding over an annual body meeting of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) governing body of the IGMC here today.

“Fresh tenders will be invited to re-open a Jan Aushdhi store at the IGMC,” he said. The governing body of the RKS approved an estimated budget expenditure of Rs 1,738 lakh for the financial year 2013-14 at its annual meeting.

Kaul Singh added that the RKS would open its own medicine shop at the IGMC for providing medicines and surgical items to beneficiaries under various government schemes such as the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna, Cancer Fund, Poor Patient Welfare Fund, Chief Minister'ss Relief Fund and School Health Programme on credit basis on the demand from the Senior Medical Superintendent.

A provision of Rs 190 lakh has been made for diagnostic facilities, Rs 236 lakh for procuring medicines and Rs110 lakh for providing surgical items to patients free of cost. The minister said CT scan and MRI facility for accident, unattended and poor patients free of cost would be provided at the IGMC.

He added that medical facilities, including diagnostic procedure, for all students of the IGMC, would also be provided free of cost. He said the case for the revision of salary of contractual staff would be sent to the state government.

He said Rs 5.50 crore aid would be given to the RKS by the government during this year and a meeting of the governing body of the RKS in the IGMC would be held twice a year. He said close-circuit cameras would also be installed on the IGMC campus by the second week of August.

Mandi, July 25
Fear gripped residents of Thachadar and Shilibaghi villages in Seraj as a leopard has been declared man-eater after it killed two women, Radha Devi and Mani Devi, and injured two other women in three different incidents in the area.

The villagers staged a protest today at Thunag and gheraoed the SDM, Gohar, who had gone to visit the area. They stopped buses and raised slogans, but were pacified on a promise that the leopard would be killed.

A seven-member wildlife team of hunters was deputed today to kill the man-eater, but it failed to spot the beast in the forest of Nachan division.

Radha Devi (26) of Thathadhar was cutting grass near her home when the leopard attacked her. It dragged her 15 m away and left her dead on the spot and disappeared into the jungle.

In the second lethal attack yesterday, the leopard killed Mani Devi (55), who was sitting on the stairs of her house when the beast attacked her. “It dragged her 50 metre across the grassy field and dropped her there dead in a pool of blood,” said her husband.

What had raised the alarm among villagers is that the leopard has been targeting adult women. The leopard had attacked and injured two women, Hema Devi of Sunah and Sundru Devi of Madhaun, earlier this month, but the wildlife team did not heed to their complaints.

They suspected that there were many leopards roaming in the area which had made their life miserable, the villagers said. Seraj MLA Jai Ram Thakur met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh who has directed the department to take action.

DFO, Nachan, VK Babu, who was camping in the area with the team of hunters, said, “The animal appears to be a male adult from the post-mortem reports of the victims. It has been declared as a man-eater. We have laid three traps and installed a digital camera in the key location of its movement to nab and kill the animal.”

He said the department had paid Rs 1 lakh compensation to the next of the kin of Radha Devi and Rs 25,000 to Mani Devi’s kin.

Shimla, July 25
Governor Urmila Singh today participated in the first digital video conference held between Rashtrapati Bhawan and Raj Bhawan here today.

In a first of its kind initiative, President Pranab Mukherjee addressed all Governors and Lt Governors of states and Union Territories on the completion of one year in office at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

She lauded the initiative of connecting Raj Bhawans and Rashtrapati Bhawan through the video conference facility as it would enable the Governors to take up the issues with the President which need immediate attention and receive his guidance accordingly. She said it would contribute towards enhancing the efficiency of the Governor's office by enabling prompt communication. This facility could be useful during situations like natural disasters, she added.

Bilaspur, July 25
Head Constable Hem Raj (25), son of Jagir Singh of Muswaad village under Harlog gram panchayat, was cremated with full military and state honours at the village cremation ghat on the bank of the Sauli khad.

Hem Raj was Head Constable in the ITBP and on duty at Uttarakhand. He died while working to help and save thousands of trapped and stranded pilgrims after the natural disaster there.

Unfortunately, he himself fell ill due to continuous service in heavy rain and exhaustion and was rushed to the Pithoragarh Military Hospital in a serious condition. But he could not survive and died there on July 23.

A team of 13 ITBP personnel, led by DSP Mandeep, arrived at his village yesterday with his body draped in the Tricolour. They reversed the arms and placed wreaths on his body on behalf of the ITBP, while buglers sounded the Last Post.

The government and district administration were represented by Tehsidar Kuldip Singh Patial and SHO Sita Ram Sandhu.

Harlog panchayat president Pawan Chandel, vice-president Gyan Chand, members and village leaders Karmi Devi, Prem Singh, Gyan Singh, Pyar Chand, Inder Singh, Mukesh, Rakesh, Hem Raj and Dinesh etc were also present. Hem Raj was married only one year ago and has a daughter.

Kangra, July 25
Students and staff of Pandit Anant Ram Sanatan Dharam Degree College, Baroh, along with local residents, today took out a protest rally from the main markets of Baroh and held a dharna against the college management. They were demanding the takeover of the college by the state government.

Prof Aman Walia and Prof NN Sood, in a joint statement here, said students of the college, along with the staff supported by pradhans of different panchayats of the area, took out a protest rally against the Changar Shiksha Samaj Kalayan Parishad (CSSKP).

They said to protect the interests of the students all classes would be conducted as usual, but the protest dharna would continue in the college from 12 noon to 4 pm daily till the acceptance of their demand.

They said a Joint Action Committee (JAC) was formed with Rajinder Kumar as its convener to carry on the agitation till it reached a logical conclusion.

Meanwhile, staff and students of the college sent a joint memorandum to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh demanding the registration of an FIR against the CSSKP for allegedly misleading the government to obtain an NOC for closing down the college by misrepresenting the facts.

The memorandum also asked the Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Education Secretary and the DGP and the Kangra district administration to initiate appropriate legal action against the CSSKP.