Shimla, September 9
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, along with his Cabinet colleagues, today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and took up the the state’s case for liberal financial assistance.

Some of the areas where the aid is sought include restoration of industrial package, uniform funding of central schemes and release of funds for undertaking relief measures in flood-hit areas.

The Chief Minister and other Ministers have been pursuing matters at various levels for the past eight months. With the Parliamentary elections nearing, there has been a sense of urgency in their approach. All-India Congress Committee general secretary Ambika Soni, who is also in charge of party affairs in the state, accompanied the delegation lending support to the state’s cause along with Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Sukhwinder Singh, who skipped the meeting of the party’s state executive to make it to New Delhi.

The Chief Minister made a strong case for adequate assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund on the pattern of the Uttarakhand. He informed the Prime Minister that the first installment of the State Disaster Relief Fund amounting to Rs 68.12 crore was released by the Centre in July 2013 and the state, along with its own share of Rs 15.14 crore, provided Rs 129.24 crore to various departments and district administrations for immediate relief to the affected areas.

He said the state experienced heavy rain, 576 per cent to 1,358 per cent above the normal, from June 15 to 17, which caused heavy damage in Kinnaur and Sirmour districts. In all, 69 lives were lost and 2,427 animals perished in the flash floods, besides 11,157 houses, 4,519 roads, 2,763 water supply schemes got badly damaged.

The Prime Minister told the delegation that the report of the Group of Ministers had been received and the Centre would provide adequate assistance to the state on its basis. He sympathised with the flood victims and appreciated the relief and rehabilitation works carried out by the state.

Virbhadra Singh requested Manmohan Singh to restore the industrial package, which was terminated prematurely in March 2010, till the year 2020 to remove regional disparity in the industrial development. The package was given for 10 years up to March 2013, but the incentive of central excise duty and income tax was withdrawn in March 2010 and March 2012, respectively.

Consequently, out of the total 16,500 small, medium and large scale units, involving investment of Rs 48,830 crore, approved from January 6, 2003, to March 31, 2013, only 9,353 units with investment of Rs. 14,557 crore came up.

He sought a special plan assistance of Rs 2,100 crore for 2013-14, as the state had suffered a huge loss due to adverse recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission. He said the state got only 50 per cent increase in the total devolution from the 13th Finance Commission as against the average hike of 126 per cent and ,thus, it was deprived of additional transfer of Rs 10,725 crore over the 2010-15 period.

He also urged the Prime Minister that a uniform funding pattern in the ratio of 90:10 should be maintained in respect of special category states for all the centrally-sponsored schemes. At present, the Centre's share varied from 90 to 50 per cent and was less compared to other states. He called for adopting a funding pattern on a par with north eastern states.

Besides Vidya Stokes, Kaul Singh Thakur, GS Bali, Sujan Singh Pathania, Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Mukesh Agnihotri, Sudhir Sharma, Prakash Chaudhary, Dhani Ram Shandil, Anil Sharma and Principal Secretary (Finance) Shrikant Baldi accompanied the delegation. 

Chief Minister demands

* Adequate aid from the National Disaster Response Fund on the pattern of Uttarakhand for rain-ravaged areas

* Restoration of the industrial package till 2020 to remove regional disparity in industrial development

* Special aid of `2,100 cr on account of losses incurred due to proposals of the 13th Finance Commission

* Uniform funding in the ratio of 90:10 in respect of special category states for all central schemes

Shimla, September 9
Dinesh Malhotra, Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, kicked off a three-day Bharat Nirman Public Information Campaign at a public function held at Government Senior Secondary School, Suni, 40 km from here, today. The objective of the campaign is to create awareness among the masses about the flagship programmes of the Centre under the Bharat Nirman Yozna.

Terming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) one of the largest employment schemes in the world, Malhotra said the state had been adjudged among a few leading states for successfully implementing the scheme.

The state had achieved a target of complete electrification and potable water facilities much earlier and it was now working hard for ensuring that the benefits of such schemes reached the people and they got quality services.

Malhotra said people were not coming forward to avail the full benefit of MNREGA as they had other means of earning livelihood.

Speaking on the progress of MNREGA, Surinder Thakur, assistant project officer, DRDA, said it was implemented in 2008 in the district and so far Rs 170 crore had been spent on it and Rs 15 crore had been allotted for the current year. Around 53,000 households derived the benefits of 9,960 development works executed over 23 lakh working days under it.

He said the district administration had also started toll free numbers to address queries of the public about the scheme. Earlier, Tara Singh, conducting officer of the Press Information Bureau, Shimla, said the feedback of the people regarding the implementation of various schemes would be collected and sent to the Centre.

Shimla, September 9
The first meeting of the newly constituted state executive of the Congress underlined the need for early declaration of candidates for the Lok Sabha (LS) elections. The members were of the unanimous opinion that names of the candidates for the four Lok Sabha seats should be declared by November so that they had enough time to move around in constituencies spread over in the difficult hill terrain.

The meeting was chaired by Vice-President Chander Kumar in the absence of Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sukhwinder Singh, who was away to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minster as part of the state delegation led by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

It was decided during the meeting that PCC office-bearers would start touring the districts assigned to them immediately and hold meetings right down to the block level to get the feedback. They would also exhort the party workers at the grassroots to educate people about the important legislations enacted by the UPA regime to ensure food security to the poor and to protect the interests of farmers in case of acquisition of land for development projects. The frontal organisations of the party would also be effectively involved in the run up to election.

Chander Kumar said apart from highlighting the schemes like MNREGA, Right to Information and Right to Education Acts, the Congress would also expose corruption and land grab cases that took place under the Dhumal regime. He said inquiry into the affairs of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association had brought out murky details along with the fact that more than one organisation was functioning in the name of HPCA. 

Mandi, September 9
Over 1,500 oustees of the 990-MW Beas-Sutlej Link (BSL) power project in the Pandoh, Sundernagar and Slapparh belt of the district took out a protest march in the town today demanding restoration of 1,402 bighas of surplus land to them and 2 per cent share in the power project.

The oustees gathered here under the banner of the Himalayan Niti Abhiyan (HNA) and stepped up the campaign in the light of the verdict of the Supreme Court in favour of the state in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) projects. “The apex court has directed the Punjab and Haryana governments to pay Himachal’s share, including arrears worth Rs 3,000 crore, and we also demand that all the surplus land should be reverted to the oustees,” claimed Hem Raj Sharma, president of the BSL Oustees Welfare Union, Pandoh.

Various NGOs under the HNA today submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh through the Mandi Deputy Commissioner and reiterated their demands.

“The surplus land belonged to the oustees, who had been rendered landless by the project, but it has been illegally occupied by various departments of the state government at Pandoh,” claimed Kulbhushan Upmanyu and Guman Singh, HNA representatives, who led the protest here.

The oustees alleged that they were paid negligible compensation by the then Punjab government as people were not aware about their rights. Even they had not been "rehabilitated properly" and they had no land, they added. The surplus land acquired for the BSL project was given to various state government departments and Navyodya Vidyalaya without changing its land use, claimed Guman Singh. This land should be given back to the oustees, besides 2 per cent share of power from the BSL project, he demanded.

Pankaj Rai, ADM, Mandi, said the surplus land of the project had been reclaimed by the state government and they did not have any pending applications of the oustees with them. The final call had to come from the government on this, he added.

BBMB officials claimed that the issue would be sorted out as per the Supreme Court judgement. 

Dharamsala, September 9
The board examinations for Classes X and XII of winter-closing schools, located mostly in tribal areas of the state, will be conducted in December by the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBSE).

The decision was taken in a meeting of the board held here today under HPBSE chairman Balvir Tegta.

During the stint of the previous BJP government, the board had started conducting the examinations in tribal areas in March, instead of December, along with the students from the rest of state. The board has now decided to hold annual board examinations in winter-closing schools in December and in other schools in March.

It also decided to provide the copy of answer sheets to the students appearing in board examinations under the RTI Act after making necessary amendments to examination rules of HPBSE. The JBT candidates would also be able to get their answer sheets re-evaluated from this year.

The board will also reopen its book depots in Nagrota Bagwan and Jawalamukhi areas. The depots in these areas were closed down under the previous BJP government in the state. The board has decided to grant equivalence to the CBSE-i examination conducted at the international level.

It also decided to add environmental education as subject in the syllabus of Classes III and X. A chapter on adolescence education would also be introduced in science books of Class IX.

In another major decision, the HPSBE decided to give extra time in board examinations to the mentally-challenged students.

It would also conduct the Global Aptitude Test for students of Class X on behalf of the CBSE. It has also directed the schools to conduct Class XI examinations as per the laid down norms so that the standard was maintained in Class XII.

The HPBSE also decided to issue migration certificate to students successfully passing the Class XII board exams along with their original certificates.

For this service, the fee would be charged from the students along with the fee of examination admission forms.

HPBSE’s major decisions

* Students to get copy of answer sheets under the RTI Act

* Mentally-challenged students to get extra time in board exams

* Book depots in Nagrota Bagwan and Jawalamukhi to reopen

* Classes III, X will be taught environmental education as subject

* Class IX to have chapter on adolescence education in science books

* Students passing board exams to get migration certificates

Bilaspur, September 9
The state government is giving special attention to games and sports in schools and gram panchayat areas so that talent can be spotted and trained at a young age. This will also give opportunity to young ones to go ahead and achieve great heights in sports.

This was stated by Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS), Rural Development, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal while presiding over the concluding function of a three-day district-level school sports (under-19) tournament at the Government Senior Secondary School, Gaaliyan, 60 km from here, yesterday.

Lakhanpal said 3 per cent services in all government and semi-government organisations had been reserved for sportspersons. Good players were given handsome awards by the state government every year, he added.

He urged students to take part in sports activities as these were essential for their personality development.

Lakhanpal distributed prizes among the following winners - Volleyball: Gehadwin Senior Secondary Zone (SSZ)-first, Sadar SSZ -second; Kabaddi: Sadar SSZ-first, Gehadwin SSZ-second; Kho kho: Ghumarwin SSZ-first, Sadar SSZ-second; Badminton: Sadar SSZ-first, Ghumarwin SSZ-second; Wrestling: Sadar SSZ -first, Gehadwin SSZ-second; Yoga: Government Senior Secondary School, Soldha-first, Government High School, Balghaad-second.

Marchpast trophy was shared by Gehadwin and Ghumarwin High Schools Zone, while the trophy for discipline went to Ghumarwin SSZ. Principal Naresh Sohar said 282 select players from all senior secondary and high schools of the district competed in this three-day meet. 

Solan, September 9
Solan district has received 43 per cent deficient rain till August, which is the highest after the tribal districts in the state. As against the average rainfall of 332 mm recorded by this time only 188 mm precipitation has been received in Solan, which is 43 per cent less than the normal.

The district had recorded 50 per cent deficient rain in July and though the situation improved by seven per cent in August, the average rainfall continues to be much less.

While 70 per cent of the annual rain is reported from July to September, scientists of the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry opined that September could help cover some deficiency as they were hopeful of receiving adequate rainfall.

Dr Satish Bhardwaj, Head, Department of Environment Sciences, said since the rainfall received in August was uniform and well distributed, it proved to be a boon for the agrarian community which grew vegetables like capsicum, bitter gourd, tomatoes, etc.

There were 19 rainy days in August, which was considered a normal duration. The deficiency was evident in the quantity of total rain received in the district.

He added that uniformly distributed rains led to lesser diseases in vegetable crops, resulting in better yield. However, the deficient rain would lead to inadequate recharge of the groundwater and this would affect its availability in the coming months.

The lack of rain, however, proved to be beneficial for the maize crop as the late-sown varieties would be free of weed growth and disease infestation in the crops.

Bilaspur, September 9
A state-level meeting of the Himachal Pradesh State Private Bus Operators Union was held at Ghumarwin, near here, yesterday.

It was presided over by state president of the union Jaisi Ram Sharma. The meeting gave a two-week ultimatum to the government stating that if their demands were not met by September 23, all the private buses would begin a 72-hour-long chakka jam throughout the state.

The meeting said though they had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on September 2 in Shimla and he had assured them that he would look into their demands, nothing had been done so far in this regard.

The meeting expressed resentment against Transport Minister GS Bali and said he did not listen to their grievances.

The main demands of the union included increase in the minimum fare from Rs 2 to Rs 5, constitution of a fare fixation committee and review of fares after every six months, 40 per cent increase in fares of private buses, inclusion of their members in the state Bus Stop Authority, formation of a state committee under the Secretary, Transport, formation of a timetable fixation policy, rest rooms at bus stands for drivers and conductors, decrease in licence fee for drivers and conductors and extension of tax submission date to the last day of the month.

Some 200 union representatives from all over the state were present during the meeting, including prominent leaders like Pankaj Chauhan, Vijender Rana, Vicky Bekta, Ram Chand Negi, Pawan Thakur, Rajesh Parashar, Ravi Mahajan, Khem Singh, Bhajan Chaudary, Mam Chand Sharma, Raj Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Sar Chand Thakur, Krishan Lal Negi, Manoj Bhagwaal, Pratap Sharma, Anil Kumar Mintu, Ranbir Sen and Sukh Dev Kaushal. 

Mandi/Kullu, September 9
Illegal hybrid cannabis cultivation has been flourishing in the remote forest areas and partly on private land in the Kullu-Mandi cannabis belt. However, the campaign launched by the police to destroy it in Parbati and Malana valleys remained a cosmetic exercise so far. The police faced both the shortage of labour and funds to destroy the contraband crop.

From the Magic valley in Malana to Bishlidhar in Anni in the outer Seraj, a huge forest area had come under illegal cannabis cultivation in Kullu district, sources said.

There are cases where foreigners and certain NGOs encourage villagers to cultivate hybrid varieties of cannabis smuggled from outside to produce high quality ‘hashish’, a new rage among certain “rich and famous from the glamour world”, the locals said.

The Mandi police has yet to step up the campaign to destroy the illegal cultivation flourishing mainly in the Karsog-Seri-Mahunag and Didar-Thathchi-Khalwahan-Gara Gushain-Janjheli-Chatri-Bahu belt in Seraj. The illegal cultivation is flourishing in the upper Chauhar valley and Parashar belt under the nose of the police, the sources said.

Smugglers are encouraging villagers and labourers from Nepal to cultivate cannabis mainly in the forest areas where its cultivation goes unnoticed. The cultivation on private land was estimated to be around 10 per cent in both Kullu and Mandi, the sources said.

The contraband cannabis cultivated in the upper Chauhar-Karsog-Seraj belt in Mandi and the Malana-Rasol-Tosh-Chalal-Kulga-Pulaga-Barshaini-Manikaran belt has already matured. “Though the top police officials have been “clamouring” in the media about destroying the contraband crops at the infant stage, the police is yet to destroy the cannabis crop which has already partly been processed to produce hashish,” the sources said.

Though the Kullu police has launched an anti-cannabis campaign in the Barshaini-Malana-Jana belt, the Mandi police still remains in a slumber. “We have destroyed 250 bighas of cannabis crop in the Malana-Barshaini belt and registered more than five cases in the forest areas,” said VK Dhawan, SP, Kullu. “Accompanied by revenue and forest staff, 130 policemen have been deployed to destroy the crop which is heading for maturation,” he said.

“In Mandi district, the police is launching a campaign from Karsog,” said KS Rana, ASP, Mandi. Action would be taken against illegal cultivators as per the provision of the NDPS Act, he added. 

Hamirpur, September 9
Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Punjab National Bank (PNB) KR Kamat has said the bank has done a business of Rs 7 lakh crore during the period ending June 2013.

Kamat, who was on a one-day tour of Hamirpur district, said during the period the Punjab National Bank’s global business had registered an increase of 40 per cent with a business of Rs 50,000 crore, deposits of Rs 4 lakh crore and loans of Rs 3 lakh crore were accounted through global business by the bank.

The CMD said the bank was taking up the coming period as a challenge and its policies and hard work of employees would definitely bring better results.

Talking about the business of the Punjab National Bank in the state, Kamat said, “In the state, our deposits are Rs 13,500 crore, while the bank has disbursed loans of about Rs 34,000 crore and out of 12 districts of the state, the PNB is a leading bank in six districts and 272 branches are being operated at present”.

The CMD also held a meeting at Hamirpur in which Vinay Kumar, general manager (Field) of Himachal Pradesh Punjab National Bank, and divisional head of the PNB, RK Khanna, also placed reports on the achievements of the bank. 

Bilaspur, September 9
Umesh Singh (35) of Muder Khadi village at Sakroli tehsil in Uttar Pradesh, who was employed at a furniture shop in Barthin, 40 km from here, died after consuming poison last night.

Umesh was reportedly taken to the Barthin Community Health Centre from where he was rushed to the Regional Hospital here when his condition deteriorated in the night. But all efforts of doctors to save him proved futile and he died. Umesh was said to have been allegedly disturbed for two weeks when his wife was assaulted by a neighbour in his absence at their quarter. A case was already registered in this regard. The police got the post-mortem examination of Umesh’s body conducted before handing it over to the family. The matter is being investigated by the police.