|
|
|
|
|
Land Revenue Bill passed to check benami deals
BJP walks out over debate on law, order
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Private buses remain off road, throw life out of gear
Cab drivers fleece commuters
Committees to look into land lease deeds
NGO seeks helicopter service to trace missing French trekkers
HC takes tough stance on unauthorised constructions
Apple import threat to local fruit industry: Farmers
Apple orchards flourish at Gushal village in Lahaul. Photo by writer
HRTC bus passengers get tea for
Rs 10
Proposal to enhance ministers’ salaries flayed
Woman killed in train mishap
Fear grips Mandi villages as man-eaters roam free
Develop archaeological science to preserve heritage: Guv
Activists demand Asaram’s arrest
Vigilance seeks details of trees felled for hotel’s construction
Protest against arrest of VHP leaders in UP
Youth arrested for temple theft
|
|
assembly in session Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service
Shimla, August 26 During the debate on the Bill, Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur alleged that the Act was amended with ulterior motives and its objective, as became apparent later, was to facilitate benami land deals. The amendment carried out by the previous government was not in consonance with Section 35 (7) of the Act and as such not sustainable in the eyes of law. It was against natural justice, as the amendment denied the co-sharers and other interested parties an opportunity to be heard. The mutation and attestation of mutation was carried out immediately after registration of the sale deal in the office of the tehsildar instead in the “jalsa aam” at the patwar circle. It had led to increase in litigation as land had been sold by persons who were not the actual owners. Kaul Singh alleged that the BJP got the Act amended as it wanted to keep land deals of its favoured parties, particularly those who had obtained permission under Section 118, Land Reforms and Tenancy Act, under the wraps. In some cases lands of IRDP families had been sold. BJP’s Gulab Singh replied that the Act was amended as mutations were being delayed for various reasons and also the parties involved in the sale deeds lived out of the state and could not afford to come again for the purpose. Suresh Bhardwaj of the BJP said the government had not done away with the provision for attestation of mutation at the patwar circle and this option was available along with that of attestation at the tehsil office. Two more amendment Bills were introduced to help restore the provisions for indirect elections of Mayor and Deputy Mayor and presidents and vice-president of urban local bodies that were replaced by the previous BJP regime to pave way for direct elections. The Bills seek to replace the State Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance and the State Municipal (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated on July 27. Earlier, Irrigation and Public Health Minister Vidya Stokes said her department was making all efforts to secure funds for the Rs 75-crore new water supply scheme for Nahan town and in the meantime the exiting scheme was being strengthened. The issue was raised through a call-attention motion by Rajeev Bindal (BJP) who drew attention to the fact that the water supply was being disrupted repeatedly as the pumping machinery needed replacement and the main pipeline strengthening in the 3-km portion where the strata was fragile. govt’s take
* The Act was amended by the BJP government with ulterior motives to facilitate benami land deals *
The amendment was not in consonance with Section 35 (7) of the Act * The amendment denied
co-sharers and other interested parties an opportunity to be heard * Registration of sale deals at tehsildar’s office instead at patwar circle led to increased litigations |
|
BJP walks out over debate on law, order
Shimla, August 26 The walkout came when the Chief Minister said it was the successive BJP regimes which misused the police machinery to fabricate false cases against him. He said cases were made sitting in the office of the Director General of Police and in his earlier term the Dhumal government framed him in the Sagar Katha case and he came out clean. He said in his last term, the BJP government had registered a case against him on the basis of an audio CD and he faced trial in the court of law and came unscathed. At this stage, BJP member Suresh Bhardawaj interrupted him and said the CD was released by the then Congress leader Vijay Mankotia and the BJP government could not be blamed for it. Other BJP members also joined him and after noisy scenes, all the BJP members left the House raising slogans. Virbhadra condemned the action of the BJP members and said they believed in “fascist” ways and had no faith in democratic norms and traditions. “They are intolerant and did not believe in debating issues and are not prepared to listen to the views of others. Their attitude shows that they are not at all serious about the issue of law and order,” he said. He said he had not witnessed such non-serious debate in the House. They had lowered the dignity of the House by their conduct, he added. Earlier, initiating the debate, Randhir Sharma of the BJP said crime rate had increased in the state and more cases of theft, rape and other offences had been registered in the past seven months. He mentioned cases of thefts in temples and crime against women and said the law and order situation was deteriorating because the government was shielding anti-social elements. The police machinery was being misused to harass political opponents and it played a partisan role during the recent students’ elections in the state. Asha Kumari of the Congress was quick to rebut the charge and said it was the BJP government which implicated Congress leaders in false cases and cited the case registered against her in 2000 along with cases against Virbhadra Singh. |
|
Private buses remain off road, throw life out of gear
Shimla, August 26
The strike by private bus operators, having a fleet of over 3,000 buses as compared to 2,150 owned by the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC), threw the normal life out of gear. The impact of the strike was felt the most in Shimla, Solan, Mandi, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts. No private buses could be seen plying even till late in the evening. Even though the HRTC tried to lessen the impact of the strike in the state capital by plying 52 additional long-route buses in and around the town, commuters were seen waiting to board buses at various stops in the town. As a result of the strike, many schoolchildren and office-goers reached late at their destinations. The HRTC buses were packed to capacity with the private buses remaining off the road. The Private Bus Operators Union is demanding a 40 per cent hike in the bus fares and fixing Rs 5 as minimum fare for travelling in buses. Ignoring the appeal made by Transport Minister GS Bali to the private bus operators to call off their strike as the government would consider their demands sympathetically, the owners decided to go ahead with their plan of observing the strike today. Principal Secretary, Transport, Ali Raza Rizvi said the impact of the strike was only partial and the worst-affected districts were Shimla and Solan. He added that additional buses had been pressed into service in Shimla and suburbs. He said the call for strike failed to elicit support in districts of Kangra and Chamba.
|
||
|
Cab drivers fleece commuters
Solan, August 26 Commuters were a harried lot across the district as the private buses remained off the road. Office-goers and school and college students faced the maximum inconvenience, as they use private buses to commute daily. A large number of people were seen waiting for hours at the bus stands for the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses or vehicles of other states. Since the HRTC had granted permits to private players on several routes, there were few buses available throughout the district to cater to the large number of people. |
||
|
Committees to look into land lease deeds
Shimla, August 26 Stating this in the Vidhan Sabha during the question hour, Revenue Minister Kaul Singh said the Deputy Commissioners would be members of the committees which would look into all the issues. The action in the matter would be taken on the basis of the reports submitted by the committees. The government would recover the lease money from defaulters and in all an amount of Rs 60.95 crore had been deposited as lease money. In Kullu district, the lease period had expired in six cases and orders for giving the land back to the government had been passed. In four other cases, the process for renewal of lease was underway. Irregularities had been detected in case of the land leased out to the Patanjli Yogpeeth Trust in Kandaghat tehsil and it had been cancelled. The issue was raised by Mohinder Singh and Satpal Satti of the BJP. Replying to another question, Kaul Singh said the government would again take up the matter with the Centre and the Medical Council of India (MCI) for increasing the MBBS seats from 100 to 150 in Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, and Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda. He said there was a strong case for increasing seats in these well-established colleges that came into existence in 1966 and 1997, as the MCI had granted approval for 150 seats to a new private college in the state.
|
||
|
NGO seeks helicopter service to trace missing French trekkers
Dharamsala, August 26 There was no trace of the two French trekkers for the fourth day today, who had gone missing in the Dhauladhar mountains while on a trekking expedition on August 23. Sources here said some of the rescue members left for the Moon peak to look for the trekkers. However, there was no report from the team till the filing of the report. The rescue team had reached the Indarhar Pass yesterday, but could not find any trace of the missing trekkers. The continuing bad weather was making the rescue work difficult in the higher reaches of the Dhauladhar ranges. “They did not have enough food to sustain themselves in case they got trapped,” the sources said. “With each passing day, chances of their survival might decrease owing to extreme weather conditions in the higher reaches of the Dhauladhars,” they added. The missing trekkers, Xabier (20) and Valintin (21), had come along with a 32-member group of trekkers to Dharamsala.
|
||
|
HC takes tough stance on unauthorised constructions
Shimla, August, 26 While passing this order, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Kuldip Singh directed the Municipal Council, Mandi, to submit a compliance report before the court on September 30. During the course of hearing, the court was told that some civil suits were pending before the civil court at Mandi against the demolition drive of the municipal council. The Bench also directed the District Judge, Mandi, to ensure that all the companion suits should be assigned to one civil court for ensuring an early disposal of such matters. |
|
Apple import threat to local fruit industry: Farmers
Mandi/Kullu, August 26 Though technology has improved over the decades, the infrastructure remains poor in the country. Farmers still face hailstorms, road blockades and bad weather; there is no facility to protect the apple crop from the rains, leave alone pre-cooling, cool chains and post-harvest technology. "We have no cool chains. The farmers cannot use cold stores of big corporates, as they buy the best quality fruit from them, store it and then sell it in metro markets to gain profit,” says Rakesh Singha, president, state Apple Growers' Association. “We need cool chains for transport, adequate space in markets and direct access to big untapped markets like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai,” said Laxman Thakur, Chairman, Ecohorts, Nandpur. “It takes three days to cross Kharapathar in the apple belt and five days to unload apple cartons from trucks at Azadpur Mandi, which has no space to accommodate 400 trucks whereas it gets 700 to 800 trucks daily,” Laxman added. The farmers rued that they did not have access to technologies used in the USA and Europe to produce rust-free shapely and sized apples. The ministries of agriculture and commerce should sit together and continue to impose trade barriers and 52 per cent import duty on the WTO and SAFTA countries to protect the farmers in the peak harvesting season, the farmers said. The cost of production and labour inputs had increased. Farmers used poplar boxes for packaging and the free trade would eliminate them, feared Mahender Upadhyay, president, Kullu Fruit Growers Association. The apple season in China coincided with that of India’s and the apple from the USA also hits markets in September. The apple import could reach up to 2.5 crore in 2014, and can increase further if the free trade was allowed, said Singha. “The need of the hour is to produce quality fruit and form a mechanism to regulate the market. As there are no root stocks and cold stores here, farmers are in a rush to sell the fruit in the ready markets. The root stocks producers are ready to come to Himachal, but they need land here," says Dr Vijay Thakur, Vice-Chancellor, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry.
|
|
HRTC bus passengers get tea for
Rs 10
Chamba, August 26 Rupees 10 for a cup of tea is being charged openly at such bus stops for the past about one year. But, it is not known who has fixed this rate. It appears that nothing in the name of the administration exists in these areas. Such bus stops can be seen between Dharamsala and Amb as well as Amb and Una en route Chandigarh and Shimla. Long-route buses from Chamba and Kangra districts pass through these areas. However, officials denied that there was a shop where a cup of tea was sold at Rs10. |
|
Deleted photos, messages retrieved from Jyoti’s cellphone
Panchkula, August 26 They have planned to submit the report before the next hearing of the case that is September 11. Recently, the police had suffered a major setback after four out of seven witnesses turned hostile. But now after the retrieved messages and photographs, they are confident enough of proving Chaudhary guilty. The report shows Jyoti joining the celebrations of Chaudhary’s daughter. Photos clicked by Jyoti from her cellphone shows Chaudhary, his daughter and his wife. Several other photographs with a birthday party going on in the background have been attached in the report. The accused had reportedly deleted all the photographs and messages from Jyoti’s cellphone in order to destroy all the evidences against them. “Intimate messages exchanged between the MLA and Jyoti and the photographs in the victim’s phone reveal that they were having close relations,” said a police official. It has come to the fore that Chaudhary had promised to marry Jyoti once he was over with the MLA elections. The fact of marriage has come out in the bail order of Chaudhary, a copy of which is with The Tribune. His bail was dismissed two days ago. A statement given by Jyoti’s sister Ishu, also mentioned in the supplementary charge-sheet, tells about the marriage commitment. “Jyoti told me that Chaudhary had committed to marry her after the MLA elections. However, after the elections when she asked him to fulfil his promise, Chaudhary backed out saying that since she was from the SC/ST community, he could not marry her and it would spoil his reputation,” the statement said.
|
|
Proposal to enhance ministers’ salaries flayed
Bilaspur, August 26 Talking to mediapersons here today, HLP district president Daulat Ram Sharma, Parliamentary constituency spokesperson Kesh Pathania, press secretary SP Gauttam and district mahila wing president Kuldip Kaur said the government had stopped age-old and time-tested necessary system of pensions to employees after their superannuation since 2002. |
|
Woman killed in train mishap
Nurpur, August 26 The Kangra Railway police Inspector said a case was registered in this connection and the victim's body had been kept in the mortuary of the Nurpur Civil Hospital for identification.
|
|
Fear grips Mandi villages as man-eaters roam free
Thunag (Mandi), August 26 The villagers said they never wanted to kill the leopards in the past even when they killed their cattle and pets. But it was in July and August that the leopards had turned into man-eaters and killed three persons and injured two others that they had raised their voice against them, said Kundal Lal, whose wife Mani Devi was lifted by a man-eater from the verandah of his house in the broad daylight. “We are not against nature. But wildlife lovers should come and live here. Only then they will come to know what a man-eater can do to them. A few villagers, who were on way to Thunari village, spotted leopards in the jungle two days ago, said,” said Nisha Devi, pradhan, Lambathatch gram panchayat. “We reach home before 6 pm and live in homes like prisoners due to fear of man-eaters,” added Lalit Kumar of Lambhathach. The teams of the Forest Department comprising hunters had not succeeded yet in trapping or killing the man-eaters, as it needed professionals like Nawab SA Khan for the job, said villagers. “If the Forest Department fails to trap or kill the man-eater, we will block the roads and gherao the forest office,” said Ramandev, pradhan, Shikawari gram panchayat, another area infested with leopards. Harshvardhan Kathuria, Conservator of Forests, Mandi, said the forest teams were patrolling the area to keep a watch on the movement of leopards. They have laid traps and new sharp shooters would be engaged if the need be, he added. The conservationists are of the view that the forest teams should follow the guidelines of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) meant for man-eaters. The correct animal should be identified first before hunters were engaged.
|
|
|
Develop archaeological science to preserve heritage: Guv
Shimla, August 26 Presiding over the 25th meeting of the Himachal Pradesh University Court here today, she said the state had its unique cultural identity, artefacts, monuments and museums, which were historic and famous across the country. “There is an urgent need to protect the cultural diversity of the state and archaeological studies should be conducted,” she said. The Governor added that Himachal Pradesh had a tremendous tourism potential and attracted lakhs of tourists every year. “To exploit the potential of the tourism industry, effective strategies and plans should be prepared, besides drafting curriculum and study materials based on latest information in this field,” she said. Emphasising on the role of women in society, the Governor said empowering women would strengthen not only society, but the country as well. The Governor underlined the importance of integrating moral values with academic studies so that the youth could become responsible citizens of the country. “Education loses its meaning if tolerance and human values are not inculcated in educated youth,” she added. Earlier, Himachal Pradesh University Vice-Chancellor, Prof ADN Bajpai said various initiatives had been taken to impart qualitative education to students. He added that efforts would be made to start 57 new courses, 10 new departments, 11 research centres and set up seven new Chairs identified under vision 2020 in a phased manner in near future. Chief Parliamentary Secretary ID Lakhanpal, MLA Bambar Thakur, Executive Council and University Court Member Dr Shrikant Baldi, Principal Secretary Finance Anita Tegta, the Secretary to Governor and other senior officers were also present on the occasion.
|
|
Activists demand Asaram’s arrest
Mandi, August 26 District president of the samiti Jaivanti Devi said Asaram had also made a controversial remark in connection with the Delhi gang-rape case. The activists said when the police had lodged an FIR on the complaint of a minor victim against Asaram, why he had not been arrested. They alleged that the self-styled godman faced half a dozen cases of serious nature pending against him ranging from murder of a few children to grabbing of government land. |
|
Vigilance seeks details of trees felled for hotel’s construction
Dharamsala, August 26 Sources here said the locals had provided information to the bureau that many pine trees were felled during the construction of the hotel. Sources here said certain forest officials might be in the dock in case the vigilance was able to prove that some trees were felled for the construction of the hotel. As per the information available with The Tribune, the Forest Department at that time had given a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the construction of the hotel. The NOC means that there was no green tree over the land on which the hotel was to be developed. As per revenue records, 88 kanal land, which was given on lease to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) for the construction of the hotel, was categorised as grazing pasture of village that did not have any green tree on it. As per revenue papers, it was an allot-able pool land. The then Deputy Commissioner had written to the Forest Department for an NOC that was granted. Since the land allotted was not forest land, in case green trees were felled, the compensation for that had to be deposited with the department concerned by the HPCA for felling them. The news regarding the felling of green trees had also appeared in a section of the press. However, forest officials at Dharamsala could not be contacted despite repeated calls. The sources said the bureau had once again called three HPCA officials Vishal Marwah, RS Kapoor and RP Singh. They were earlier questioned on August 23. All the three officials had moved for an anticipatory bail in the court, which has directed them to join the investigations.
|
|
Protest against arrest of VHP leaders in UP
Mandi, August 26 The activists raised slogans and demanded the immediate release of the arrested persons. They alleged that the “parikrama yatra of the Ayodhya temple was the right of every devote Hindu and the arrest was politically motivated”. |
|
Youth arrested for temple theft
Bilaspur, August 26 Kapil Sharma, Superintendent of Police, said Raj Kumar, pujari of the temple, had got registered an FIR on June 5, saying that cash and several items of jewellery of the deity, including the mukut, were stolen from the temple. He said the police acted on a tip-off and arrested Ravi from his village and also recovered stolen items from his house. The court has sent him in police remand till August 29. |
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Apple growers in the state are a worried lot as the country will open markets for apples, cherries and pears for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) countries in 2014, which can spell doom for the state’s Rs 3,500-crore apple industry.
