Shimla, December 5
Ministers in the Virbhadra regime were in for a surprise when a circular, urging them to leave behind their mobile phones when they come to attend cabinet meetings, was issued by Officiating Chief Secretary P Mitra here today.

It is reliably learnt that the move was prompted by reports of top secrets being revealed to political opponents and the media, during the Cabinet meetings.

Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal's son Arun Dhumal, in his press conferences, has often referred to some ministers in the Virbhadra regime keeping him updated about important developments.

Sources confirmed that the circular would also be applicable to the top bureaucracy, including the Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries, a majority of whom were present at the time of the Cabinet meeting.

Aimed at ensuring complete secrecy of important government decisions and to make sure that there are no premature leak-outs, the ministers have been asked to arrive for the cabinet meetings without their mobile phones.

The first-of-its-kind, the circular, though addressed in the form of a request to all ministers, has not been taken too kindly by some ministers.

"It amounts to casting doubt on the oath of secrecy that we have taken and are we being equated with schoolchildren who are not allowed to carry mobiles to school and examination hall," quipped an agitated minister.

"There have been instances when decisions taken by the Cabinet, meant to kept under closed wraps, are leaked out immediately after the meeting is over or at times even while the meeting is still on," reasoned out a senior official. He said there had been several instances when decisions meant to be secret till implemented were leaked out.

Insiders pointed out that the most glaring instance was that of the eventful October 26 Cabinet meeting when the decision to take over the Dharamsala cricket stadium and other grounds of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) was taken. "It had been decided that the information about the move would not be disclosed to anyone, least of all to the media till the midnight takeover of the stadium was not complete, but the news was out and most newspapers carried it despite being a late night development," said an official.

Another similar example he quoted was that of the cancellation of the land lease given to the Patanjali Yogpeeth of Ramdev in April earlier this year. Despite the Cabinet getting over at 10 pm and ministers being asked not to disclose it, everyone knew about it immediately after the decision.

What has reportedly irked the government is the divulging of every minute detail, including squabbling of ministers, during the Cabinet meeting to the media and others. In fact, the Opposition BJP has often mocked at the government for the manner in which ministers pull down each other during cabinet meetings.

Shimla, December 5
The HP High Court today granted interim anticipatory bail to Sanjay Sharma, spokesperson of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) in an alleged cheating and misappropriation case registered against the body.

Passing this order, Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary directed Sanjay Sharma to appear before the investigation officer at Dharamsala on December 7 and co-operate with him. The court also issued notice to the state on the bail plea filed by Sharma and listed the matter for further hearing on December 12.

The court also granted relief to other three officials of the HPCA -- treasurer Attar Singh Negi, vice-president Surender Thakur and joint secretary Prem Thakur — in the case directing the investigation officer to give them one-week notice before arresting them.

Shimla, December 5
The Simbalwara National Park, near Paonta Sahib, in Sirmaur district will be renamed as Sher Jung National Park and possibilities will be explored to develop it as a tiger and elephant reserve.

This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while presiding over the 6th meeting of the State Board for Wildlife here today. He said a butterfly garden to attract more wildlife lovers to the national park would also be set up.

He said late Col Sher Jung, who hailed from Nahan, was a great freedom fighter and a hunter-turned-conservationist and to name the national park on his name would be an honour to him. He said a sub-committee would be constituted to deliberate and give suggestions to improve wildlife habitats, besides boosting eco-tourism in the state.

Virbhadra said about 15 per cent of the total geographical area of the state had been brought under the Protected Area Network (PAN), while the national average was about 4 per cent. He said rationalisation of boundaries of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries was done and 775 villages had been excluded, benefiting a population of over one lakh in the state. At the same time, the wildlife area had increased from 13 per cent to 15 per cent, he added.

The Chief Minister said efforts were being made to conserve the rich flora and fauna in the state. Effective steps were taken to protect western tragopan, snow leopard, cheer pheasant, monal and vultures.

He lauded the efforts of the state Forest Department for successfully breeding the rare endangered western tragopan in captivity at Sarahan.

He said monkey sterilisation programme was started in February 2007 during his previous regime to tackle monkey menace in the state and about 76,000 monkeys had been sterilised till November last at seven monkey sterilisation centres.

Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri said Rs 5 crore was being spent to eradicate lantana in the state. He said brown bear conservation project and the second phase of the conservation breeding of western tragopan would be started in Chamba district.

Manali, December 5
Preparations are on for the third national-level winter carnival scheduled to start from January 2. A meeting was called by Vinay Thakur, ADM, Kullu, to take stock of the preparations today.

A decision was taken in the meeting that programmes in only 12 categories will be organised during the five-day-long carnival. Classical dance, fashion show, group dance, solo dance, folk dance, talent show, folk song, street play, street dance and voice of winter carnival will be among the 12 categories.

Apart from this, Himachali traditional dress show will be the main attraction of the carnival. Baby show, rangoli, photography, rock band and traditional dances will be organised on the Mall Road. Strict changes have been made for the better commencement of the voice of the carnival and winter queen competition.

Vinay Dhiman, SDM, Manali, who is also the vice-president of Winter Carnival Committee, said a detailed discussion was held for the successful organisation of the carnival. 

Shimla, December 5
The Wildlife Wing of the Forest Department in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), Mysore, will undertake the country’s first comprehensive radio collaring of snow leopards. A decision has been taken to set up the Himalayan Snow Leopard Research Centre at Kibber village in Spiti under the Rs 5.15-crore conservation project.

The snow leopard project is being jointly implemented by the Wildlife wing of the Forest Department and the NCF, Mysore. It will be for the first time that radio collaring of snow leopard will be undertaken in the country. Snow leopards have so far been radio collared in Mongolia by the Snow Leopard Trust jointly with the Mongolian Government.

“The radio collaring of snow leopard will help study distribution, seasonal movement and ranging pattern of the animal and also give an estimation about the population size of the animal in the upper Spiti valley,” said Tarun Sridhar, Principal Secretary, Forest and Revenue. He said six snow leopards would be collared.

He said the Himalayan Snow Leopard Research Centre would be set up at Kibber village in Spiti. The research and training centre with necessary infrastructure for carrying out state-of-the-art research programmes would have proper laboratory and all other facilities, he said.

Research will be done to ascertain the area needed for each animal as per its age and sex and conflict and role of each individual snow leopard and primary threats faced by the animal.

In the past, there was only indirect evidence of the presence of snow leopards in the area in the form of pictures captured through trap cameras or their pug marks, which confirmed their presence in the area. The radio collaring of the animal will also help give an insight into prey availability, topography, disturbance and the ability of the animal to move across human and natural barriers.

Though no scientific estimation of snow leopard has been undertaken in the state, it is estimated that their strength could be below 20. Members of the Nature Conservation Foundation and staff of the Wildlife Wing had spotted two adult snow leopards close to Chichim village in Spiti, about two years ago. It is felt that by identifying and conserving the important areas inhabited by them, there could be an increase in their numbers.

The other aspects of the project is to understand the mechanism of snow leopard conflicts.

“Another important aspect of the project is to train and set up a proper monitoring programme for snow leopards to be implemented jointly by wildlife staff and local community representatives,” said officials.

Hamirpur, December 5
Statues of great fighter General Zorawar Singh and revolutionary Hindi writer Yashpal Sharma installed a few years ago in Nadaun are lying in neglect for want of inauguration.

General Zorawar Singh’s statue that awaits inauguration.

The statues have been installed by the Department of Art, Culture and Language a few years ago and the statue of Yashpal Sharma had been installed on the campus of Sahitya Sadan, which houses public library at Nadaun.

Similarly, the statue of General Zorawar Singh had been installed on the main road, about a kilometre away from the Nadaun bus stand.

This statue was installed about 3 years ago, but has been left wrapped with a cover, which has also worn out.

Parvinder Katoch, a local resident, said, “Both Yashpal Sharma and General Zorawar Singh were pride of the area and their statutes were raised on public demand. It is sad that the statues have not been dedicated to the public. If proper care in not taken, they will get damaged”.

Yashpal Sharma’s statue is covered with aluminium and glass casing but General Zorawar Singh’s statue is lying in the open.

General Zorawar Singh was raised to the position of commander by the erstwhile King of Jammu state, Raja Gulab Singh, who had risen to this position from the ranks, heading his army in several wars in Ladakh, Zanskar and Tibet.

Similarly, revolutionary writer Yash Pal Sharma, hailing from Bhumpal village, near Nadaun, is also known for his writings and novels, depicting the Freedom struggle.

KD Negi, district language officer, said, “We are trying to bring some prominent person to inaugurate the statues”.

Shimla, December 5
To ensure quality care and a life of dignity for all persons infected with HIV and AIDS, the Himachal Government has adopted the slogan of ‘Zero Discrimination and Zero Death’.

Students of Dronacharya BED College take out an anti-AIDS rally at Rait, near Dharamsala, on Wednesday. Photo: Kamaljeet

Stating this here today, Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh Thakur said effective prevention, care and support for persons with HIV and AIDS was possible only in an environment where human rights were respected and where those infected can live without stigma and discrimination. “The government is committed to contain the spread of HIV by building an all-encompassing response and reaching out to diverse population,” he added.

Thakur said there was a need to make people aware, motivated, equipped and empowered with knowledge regarding HIV and AIDS so that they could protect themselves against it.

He said the government was implementing many schemes for people infected and their children, like travel fare for patients and one attendant going to Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) Centres for treatment. Besides, milk powder to infants of HIV positive mother, on advice of physician, was also being provided.

He said ART was also being provided free of cost at the centres besides undertaking activities like folk campaign, hoardings and involvement of mass media to spread awareness and mainstreaming of the patients.

Thakur said during 2013-14, 16,376 calls were received for tele-counselling on toll free number 1299 under the AIDS Control Programme. He said 45 Integrated Counselling Centres were providing free counselling and testing facility to general population and pregnant women.

Kullu, December 5
Legislator from Banjar Karan Singh inaugurated the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus service on the Sainj-Deuri route at Sainj village, about 45 km from here, today.

During his public address, he said the Banjar constituency had witnessed an overall growth and the facilities of road, education, health and other basic needs to the distant villages had improved during the one-year regime of the present government.

He said this road would be soon metalled. He added that the high school at Deuri would soon be upgraded to the senior secondary level. He also presented Rs 50,000 for maintenance of the school ground.

Shimla, December 5
Dry and clear weather is proving beneficial to the state power board as demand for power is far less than the projected requirement. Though surplus in power, the state faces shortfall during winter as demand increases appreciably due to extreme cold and generation from hydroelectric projects declines.

However this season, the board is breathing easy despite a fall in generation which has come down to less than 25 per cent. Accordingly, the board had projected a shortfall of 1024 million units (MU) from November to March. The shortfall for November was 97 MU, December (206 MU), January (276 MU), February (294 MU) and March (151 MU).

However, the daily demand has been hovering around 240 lakh units (LU)against the projected 250 to 255 lakh units for which the board had arrangements in advance. With the demand remaining low and even slightly less than last year, the board is selling the surplus power under unscheduled interchange (UI) through the Energy Exchange of India at Rs 3 per unit. Apart from sunny weather, the continuing industrial slowdown may also have impacted the demand.

The maximum decline has been in case of the Baspa project with generation plunging to 13 LU from the 78 LU in summer. The generation of the board from its own projects has come down to 28 LU from 105 LU and that of small hydro projects from 56 LU to 18 LU. The board has arranged 83 LU from Punjab and Haryana through banking arrangements and it is also getting free and equity power ( 21 LU) available with the government.

The board had during the summer returned 450 MU drawn under forward banking arrangements last winter and further banked 840 MU which it is taking back now to meet the winter shortfall.

The remaining shortfall of 184 MU will be met through forward banking. Given the current level of demand, the board is not likely to have any problem even during the peak winter as the maximum availability 255 LU is considered more than adequate to meet any abrupt increase in demand due to snow. 

Nurpur, December 5
A large number of roads proposed to provide road connectivity in the rural areas of the Nurpur circle have been hanging fire due to the delay in procurement of clearance from the Union Forest and Environment Department.

According to information, construction of 29 roads in the Nurpur, Fatehpur, Jawali and Dehra divisions has been pending from a long time.

The Public Works Department (PWD) had prepared detailed project reports (DPRs) of five roads, while the state government had also earmarked budget for undertaking the construction work.

In the sanctioned five roads, two are to be built under the NABARD funding scheme and three under the Prime Minister Gramin Sarak Yojana (PMGSY).

The construction of six rural roads in the Nurpur Public Works Department division, five in the Fatehpur division, eight in the Jawali division and nine in the Dehra division has been pending since a long time for the want of forest clearance mandatory for converting the forest land into non-forestry use.

The state government has sanctioned Rs 107.93 lakh for Sohan khud-Kanpur via Sarna link road, Rs 83.23 lakh for Dehra-Dhanotu via Daruhi link road in the Dehra division. These have to build under the NABARD funding scheme and will benefit around 3,500 rural people of the area.

The PWD has also prepared DPR for another two link roads in the Dehra division under the PMGSY. Rs 106.48 lakh was earmarked for the Dehra-Sadanh and Dehra-Sapru via Sapru link roads, respectively. In the Fatehpur division, the DPR of the Gangath-Indora-Gugwar link road has been prepared under the PMGSY and Rs 45.99 lakh has been earmarked for this purpose.

AK Abrol, Superintending Engineer, Nurpur, Public Works Department circle, said the department was waiting for the clearance from the Union Forest and Environment Department and would start the construction of the proposed sanctioned rural link roads as and when it procures the final nod.

In this connection, Sanjay Sen, Divisional Forest Officer, Nurpur, said the forest clearance was must under the Forest Conservation Act and prior approval of the Government of India was required in this connection to use the forest land for non-forestry use.

“The procuring of forest and environment clearance is an intricate and lengthy process. The proposals are submitted through divisional forest offices to higher authorities and then the state government presents them to the Government of India for final nod,” he informed.

Palampur, December 5
Brij Behari Lal Butail, Speaker of the HP Assembly, directed government officials for quick redressal of public grievances. He said if the grievances were redressed at the lower level, people could be saved from travelling a long distance to reach Shimla and Dharamsala for small matters.

Butail was addressing officers of different departments on the occasion of the “Parshasan Janta Ke Dwar” programme organised by Bhupinder Attari, SDM, Palampur, yesterday.

Butail, who was the chief gust in this function, said the motto of the state government was to serve people in a better way and government officials could play a significant role by implementing the policies and programmes of the government.

He asked government officials to dispose of public complaints on priority and complainants should be forced to visit government offices time and again. He said a number of persons called on him daily with their grievances. But the same could be solved at official level if government officials perform their duties honestly.

He said government officials must realise that they were public servants and their object should be to serve the public. He categorically stated that no corrupt officer would be spared as government had already announced zero tolerance for corruption.

Earlier, 100 complaints were registered in the “Parshasan Janta Ke Dwar”, out of which 75 were disposed of on the spot. Butail asked the officials to implement his order immediately.

Kangra, December 5
Two persons were killed in different road accidents at Gang Bheroan and Sansarpur terrace in the district today.

Kuldeep Kumar, Head Constable, Traffic, said Amar Chand, 85, was on his way back home when he was hit by a truck (HP-39-C-0986) at Gang Bheroan and was injured.

Kumar said the injured was rushed to Dr RP Govt Medical College, Tanda, where he succumbed to his injuries. The police have registered a case under Sections 304 A and 279, IPC, against truck driver Upinder, alias Ashu, and arrested him. He said that the truck was impounded.

The police handed over the body to family members after conducting a post-mortem examination.

In another accident, Surjeet Singh, a truck conductor, was killed while putting a stone under the rare wheel of his truck. The truck started moving in the reverse direction after the driver failed to control the vehicle.

The truck was on its way to Sansarpur terrace from Chintpurni when the accident took place. The deceased was a resident of Una.

SHO Dehra, Dharampal, said Surjeet Singh, in a serious condition, was rushed to a hospital at Chintpurni. Later, he was referred to the District Hospital, Una, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The SHO said the victim was the younger brother of the driver, Rattan Singh, who was arrested under Sections 304 A and 279, IPC. The body was sent for a post-mortem examination.