Dharamsala, January 13
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau interrogated the Joint Secretary with the Department of Defence Production and former Deputy Commissioner of Kangra KK Pant for about four hours here today. It is for the second time that Pant has been interrogated. Earlier, he was interrogated on January 6.

Sources said the senior IAS officer had admitted that he got directions from the former Chief Minister to hold a meeting on the demolition of the houses built for teachers on government college land, Dharamsala.

The statement of Pant was recorded at the Vigilance police station. Vigilance officials refused to divulge the details of the statement.

The involvement of Pant in the case pertains only to the meeting held by him during his stint as the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, in 2008 to discuss the demolishing the UGC teachers' houses.

The Vigilance had earlier registered a case against HPCA officials and other officials for allegedly demolishing the building of Government College, Dharamsala, and allowing the HPCA to encroach upon the vacated land.

The Vigilance had earlier arrested a former PWD SDO who had given the technical clearance for the demolition of the building and the Executive Engineer, PWD, who had forwarded the report for action.

The Vigilance was also questioning the alleged presence of the HPCA officials at the meeting held on the decision to demolish the building. Pant was also asked about allowing the HPCA officials at the meeting.

It is only after the statement of Pant that the name of former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal has figured in the case. With the war between Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the family of Dhumal getting shriller, it was likely that the name of latter might be included among the suspects in the case.

However, the sources here said though the senior officer might say that he got orders from the former CM, these were just verbal orders. To implicate the former CM in the case on the verbal orders might be legally difficult for Vigilance officials.

Dharamsala, January 13
LPG consumers who have linked their Aadhaar cards with banks for the direct transfer of subsidy for LPG cylinders will now get a relief.

At present they are getting the LPG about Rs 90 costlier than the subsidised cylinder. The reason was that the state government was earlier levying VAT on the total prize of the LPG cylinder that increased the price vis-à-vis the subsidised cylinder.

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies GS Bali, while addressing a press conference here today, said the state government had now decided to levy VAT on the subsidised rate of cylinders rather than the market prize.

Discarding the earlier practice of levying VAT on the subsidised price, which is around Rs 450, the state government was levying it on the actual price leading to an additional outgo of around Rs 90 per cylinder for customers.

“I have directed the department to resolve the issue soon. VAT will be levied on the subsidised price instead of the actual price,” said Bali.

Oil companies had increased the price of the non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) cylinders by Rs 220 in the first week of January.

Following the increase, a 14.2 kg non-subsidised cooking gas cylinder in HP is costing around Rs 1,350.

Hitting out at the BJP, Bali said the saffron party had masterminded the protest being held by women on naming them as the family head in ration cards.

“It was provided in the Food Security Act that women will be named as the head of the family in ration cards,” said Bali, adding that the step was taken for the empowerment of women and the move was supported by national leaders of the BJP. He said the new provision would also be helpful in making ration cards for women who get separated from their husbands or live alone. 

Shimla, January 13
Biting cold wave conditions abated in the state as the minimum temperature increased by a few notches and the weather remained dry due to overcast skies.

Higher reaches in tribal areas of Keylong, Udaipur and Kalpa had recorded 2 cm of fresh snow.

The state capital of Shimla, Bhuntar, Solan and Sundernagar, which shivered with the mercury hovering at the freezing point, recorded a low of 5 degrees Celsius, 5.4°C, 5.5°C and 5.7°C, respectively, an increase of four degrees since yesterday.

Manali recorded a low of 3°C against -2.4°C yesterday. Keylong and Kalpa saw a rise in the mercury as the minimum temperature stayed at -8.4°C and -3.0°C, while Bharmour recorded a low of -12.1°C.

The mercury showed an upward trend in lower hills also and rose to 7.7°C at Palampur, 6.4°C at Una, 6.2°C at Dharamsala, 2.5°C above normal and 5.6°C at Nahan.

However, the maximum temperature in Solan and Una was recorded at 18.5°C and 18°C, Sundernagar 16.4°C, Nahan 15.7°C, Bhuntar 14.8°C, Shimla 13.6°C, Dharamsala 10.8°C and Kalpa 2.4°C.

Shimla, January 13
Priyatu Mandal, Director, Food and Civil Supplies Department, today urged ration cardholders to deposit forms to make Aadhaar-based ration cards under the National Food Security Act, 2013, by January 20.

Mandal said the process had been started as Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had appealed to the people of the state to deposit forms in this regard with the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department to get the Aadhaar-based ration cards.

He said ration under the public distribution system (PDS) would only be provided on the basis of the new ration cards to consumers. The forms for making Aadhaar-based new ration cards could be obtained from panchayat secretary/ panchayat sahayak in rural areas and from the Inspector of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Department and Fair Price Shops set up under the PDS in urban areas, he said.

Mandal said special emphasis had been laid on the empowerment of women in the National Food Security Act and provision had been made to issue the ration card on the name of the seniormost woman member of the family.

He said if the age of the woman member of the family was below 18 years, then only the new ration card would be issued in the name of a senior male member of the family and it would be transferred to the woman member after she attained the age of 18 years.

The Director said for more information, one could call on toll free number 18001808026 or log on to www.epds.co.in.

Shimla, January 13
Power project engineers have expressed their concern over the collapse of walls or leakages in dams and head race tunnels of power projects as the state government has yet to put in place a round-the-clock quality control and safety wing to monitor the construction of the power projects.

The collapse of the wall of the dam in Manali yesterday has come as a reminder for the state. Independent power producers (IPPs) are getting a free run as far as the quality control is concerned, engineers said.

This is not the only incident. The repeated water ingress in the tunnel of Parbati-III, the recent leakage in the dam of Malana-II, tunnel of Malana-I, the damage to pothead yard of the 300-mw Baspa, executed by IPPs were the cause for concern, they pointed out.

The Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) had put in a system that monitors safety of the Nathpa dam every month. Even the SJVN organised an independent check from the BBMB or other organisation occasionally, said SJVNL managers.

The Karcham Wangtu project had developed seepage into the Sutlej, revealed quality control engineers. “The seapage can maintain equilibrium over a period of time. But when the discharge increases abruptly, it can be a disaster, they warned.3

The IPPs plead that they have invested a huge money and ensure the safety and quality of their projects. Water leakages were common in hydropower projects and were plugged, they claimed.

But the IPPs were executing projects on 40-year lease as per MoUs signed with them by the government. “Ultimately power projects will come back to the state and hence the “quality control and safety” is supreme for safe future of the power sector”, the engineers at Directorate of Energy said.

General secretary, HP Project Engineers Association, MK Sharma, said, “We have represented several delegations to the government to put in place an independent quality control wing and civil manual that monitors the quality of materials used in these projects so that we have a ready data bank on each project. This wing should be under the chief engineer, civil”. 

Mandi, January 13
The result of thousands of students is likely to be delayed in the face of the disagreement between the managements of private engineering colleges and the Himachal Pradesh Government over the issue of penalty on the colleges for enrolling students in BTech courses without having appeared in the Joint Entrance Test (JEE).

The state government had given a one-time relaxation to the private engineering colleges for regularising admission of colleges students without appearing in the JEE through a cabinet decision. However, it had also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the defaulting colleges along with a penalty Rs 13,500 per student.

Many colleges had deposited the fine and penalty but some colleges have not deposited the amount till now.

After failing to pay the penalty, the Himachal Pradesh Board of Technical Education had withheld roll numbers of the students studying in the defaulting colleges for the first semester examination, which were released with the intervention of the state government.

The board has issued a fresh notice to all defaulting colleges to pay the penalty. In the case of failure, it has also threatened to withhold the results of the students.

Taking exception to the notice, the association of private engineering colleges has contended the penalty is not justified since the admissions were made as per the norms of the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Nikka Ram, the general secretary of the association, said, “Imposing penalty is not justified as most of the colleges are facing financial crunch. They have urged the state government to waive off the penalty since the admissions were made as per the AICTE norms.”

On the other hand, secretary of the Himachal Technical Education Board, Sunil Verma, said, “The penalty was imposed by the state government as per norms, which are printed on the prospectus. Many colleges have already deposited the penalty and defaulting colleges should do the same at the earliest.”

Palampur, January 13
Stating that protecting environment was the Himachal government’s top priority, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh laid stress on making strict environment laws to deal with the issue.

He was addressing mediapersons at Panchrukhi on Saturday. He said new environment guidelines had already been issued for power projects, cement plants and other projects coming up in the state.

He said Himachal Pradesh had emerged as the first state in the country to march towards achieving carbon neutrality. “After going through various models of some environment conscious countries such as Costa Rica, the state government has drawn up a master-plan with the help of the World Bank to make Himachal Pradesh a complete carbon-neutral state.”

The CM said the Centre had already sanctioned a bio-carbon project funded by the World Bank for the state, which aimed at transforming the socio-economic condition of the people by providing livelihood options to the rural poor.

He said the bio-carbon project was underway in about 10,000 hectare non-arable and degraded common forestland.

“The project aims at developing cost-effective ways to minimise climate-change risks by generating environment benefits through carbon regeneration besides improving revenue generating capacity of small farmers,” he said.

The CM said the state had also formulated a policy on climate changes to prepare a road map for issues to be focused in immediate future to protect the environment. The policy includes issues such as introducing technological interventions for reduction of greenhouse emissions from industries, residences, automobiles, landfills and the agricultural sector.

Solan, January 13
The Industrial Training Institute (ITI) diploma holders and semi-skilled labourers working in industry can now acquire formal engineering degrees from skill development centres recognised by the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).

The Rayat Bahra Group of Institutes is planning to bring up such skill development centres in Himachal in collaboration with the industry.

Gurvinder Singh Bahra, Chairman, Rayat Bahra Group of Institutes, said it was a novel scheme started by the AICTE for semi-skilled labourers who could not acquire formal degrees due to financial constraints.

He said their Skill Development Institute at Kharar had already been recognised by the AICTE for imparting academic and vocational training to help semi-skilled workers acquire formal degree in auto-electrical and electronics. Such centres would be opened in Himachal soon, he said.

Bahra said the centres would help those engaged in the industry to acquire formal degrees, so that they can rise professionally.

Elaborating further, he said, “We have collaboration with Volkswagen, Maruti, Volvo Eicher and Bosch. The industry has provided its latest technology to train students. Those enroled in the courses are assured 100 per cent placement.”

RA Yadav, former Chairman, AICTE, said, “The Rayat Bahra Skill Development Centre has been recognised under the National Vocational Educational Qualification Framework. There are seven certification levels for the students undergoing training. For acquiring a degree, the students are required to complete 600 to 700 hours of vocational training and 300 to 400 hours of academic training at the Rayat Bahra centre at Kharar. For acquiring diploma, the students have to complete 300-400 hours of vocational training and 600-700 hours of academic training. Those who complete the training will be given the diploma by the state Technical Board and bachelor’s degree by the state Technical University as per the AICTE mandate.”

In the auto-electrical and electronics course being offered by the Rayat Bahra Skill Development Centre, the students are being imparted training in mathematics, science, social science, power wiring diagrams and lighting systems in modern vehicles.

The Chairman of the group said such courses were ideal for students from poor families who could not afford formal education. The certification provided by Volkswagen was recognised at the International level, he added.

Palampur, January 13
JP Nadda, national general secretary of the BJP, today criticised Rahul Gandhi and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi for adopting double standards on the issue of corruption.

Addressing mediapersons here last evening, Nadda said despite providing documentary evidences of corruption charges against Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Sonia Gandhi had failed to initiate any action and he was still holding the office. He said bank statements of Virbhadra and his family members given to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA chief had probed that they had taken money from Baikmulla Chander Shekahar in lieu of a favour extended to him.

He said Rahul, who had publicly announced that there would be a zero tolerance against corruption in the party, had turned into a mute spectator on the issue of the Himachal Chief Minister.

Nadda quoted that Sonia knew well that Virbhadra had been facing a CBI enquiry at the behest of the Delhi High Court in an income tax matter. Still she had not asked him to resign.

He said the BJP would not leave the issue and a statewide agitation would be launched to oust the Chief Minister from his office.

Earlier, Nadda visited Vivekanand Medical Research Institute (VMRI), where he was given a warm welcome by senior BJP leader and MP Shanta Kumar, who is also the chairman of the institute.

He also inaugurated a physiotherapy unit at the institute. Speaking on the occasion, Nadda said the VMRI had proved a boon for the residents of lower areas of the state. He appreciated the efforts of Shanta Kumar for setting up the institution.

Addressing the gathering, Shanta Kumar said a nursing college would be set up on the VMRI campus soon. He said super-specialty medical services would also be introduced in the VMRI in the coming months.

Shimla, January 13
The Students Central Association (SCA) of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) yesterday demanded rollback of increase in the price of the examination form for undergraduate classes from Rs 270 to Rs 120 keeping in view the fact that the German technique marksheet was not being provided from this session. A sum of Rs 100 was being charged for this marksheet and the processing fee was Rs 50.

The association, in a memorandum sent to members of the executive council, also demanded filling of all vacant posts of teaching as well as non-teaching staff and priority to research scholars of HPU as guest faculty members till the posts are filled.

Other major demands included the construction of new hostels for boy and girl students, new buses for day scholars, suspension of controller of examination Narender Awasthi, said SCA president Rajan Hartta.

Meanwhile, the campus unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of HPU, Shimla, today opposed the implementation of RUSA, claiming that the state had not fulfilled pre-requisites like appointment of lecturers and basic facilities and dubbed the move as anti-students.

The ABVP members rued that thousands of students were deprived of education under RUSA and compelled to take admissions in private universities.

Terming the executive council as an agent of the Congress government, the members stated that despite High Court directions, the executive council had not recruited 37 lecturers.

In a memorandum sent to the executive council members, they sought the announcement of the examination results in 45 days and re-evaluation results in 30 days. They also sought that the construction of the Arts block Phase-III building be started immediately. Toilets and bathrooms of the hostels which are in a deplorable condition should be repaired, they added.

Palampur, January 13
Former Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Minister and senior BJP leader Ravinder Thakur on Wednesday demanded a CBI probe into the corruption charges levelled against Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

He said charges against the Chief Minister were of a serious nature and were supported by documentary evidences, so a CBI probe could only reveal the truth.

Addressing newsmen here, Ravinder said, “Virbhadra Singh claims he is innocent, then why is he shying off from a CBI probe,” he said.

Shimla, January 13
A delegation of the Himachal Pradesh Labana Hitkarini Sabha, led by its president Govind Ram Naik, today urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to set up Labana Bhawan in Mandi and Kullu. 

They also urged him to redress other grievances of their community.

Solan, January 13
The Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, will introduce postgraduate degree courses in spices, plantation and medicinal and aromatic plants from the next academic session.

A decision to this effect was taken at the recent meeting of the board of management (BoM) where it was pointed out that the discipline will be placed under the Department of Vegetable Sciences.

A copy of the BoM was available with The Tribune.

The discipline is not new to the university and the department of forest products in the College of Forestry was already running two postgraduate programmes-- medicial and aromatic plants and wood sciences and technology.

But since these disciplines come under the horticulture stream at the national level, the university management has taken this step to start degree courses under the horticulture stream apart from its existing course.

The Vice Chancellor, Dr Vijay Singh Thakur, said the decision has been taken in view of several students from Maharashtra who wanted to attain such degrees from our university under the horticulture stream. He said the existing staff from the department of vegetable sciences would manage the new discipline.

The curricula of the programme have already been approved by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research. According to the agenda placed before the BoM meeting, it was stated that need-based modification in the course curriculum could be made. The Spices Board of India is setting up a spices park in Naduan, Hamirpur district, for which Rs 6 crore have been released. The area is famous for its turmeric cultivation region and the Palampur agriculture university has given 10 acres for the park. An extension centre of the park for ginger is also likely to be opened in the neighbouring Sirmaur district.

Nurpur, January 13
The local unit of the Himachal Pradesh Government Pensioners’ Association organised a special function to honour octogenarian pensioners here. The association had organised a similar function last year as well and honoured those government pensioners who had either touched or crossed 80 years of age.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ashwani Sood presided over the function.

The octogenarians identified by the association were garlanded and honoured with a shawl and a cap. Presiding over the ceremony, the SDM lauded the initiatives of the association and said the gesture would definitely render a new vigour and spirit among octogenarian pensioners of the area.

He underlined the need to accord due respect to pensioners and announced that an office room would be provided to the association so that pensioners could meet the office bearers to sort out their pension-related problems.

President of the association SL Gupta, while thanking the local administration for providing an office roof to the association, said the association had been struggling for its genuine demands, but successive state governments were indifferent towards them.

Bilaspur, January 13
The general house of members of the Four-Lane Express Highway Oustees Samiti (from Kainchi Mode to Dehar) unanimously adopted a resolution. It warned the district administration and the government that if their 18-point charter of demands was not met, they would not allow the construction of this road.

The meeting, presided over by samiti president Ram Singh, said theirs was a totally non-political agitation and they were not against any political party or leader. They would not seek the support of any political party or leader for their agitation, he said.

The meeting said no “intequal” of land would be allowed till all “field books” of farmers were prepared. Their agitation would continue peacefully till all their demands were accepted and no road construction work would be allowed on their land, they said.

Chamba, January 13
A team from Germany will tour various parts of the state from today to January 19 and carry out a comprehensive study on all aspects of the ecosystem of the hilly state.

A statement of the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department here today said the feasibility study team from Germany would prepare a HP Forest Ecosystems Climate Proofing Project report.

It said the team during its week-long tour would visit Shimla, Bilaspur, Sundernagar, Palampur, Dharamsala, Chamba, Nurpur, Nagrota Surian and then return to Shimla.

On January 16, the team would visit the forest area in Bakloh range in Chamba district and oak plantations in Dalhousie forest range.

On January 17, it would tour Paliyur in lower Chamba range to interact with the villagers regarding the man-animal conflict. The team would also study the pasture areas in Chamba forest division, as per the travel plan of the team given in the communiqué.

An interactive session would also be held, where the team would interact with all Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs) and Assistant Conservators of Forests (ACFs).

The session would be organised by the state Forest Department.

Range officers, block officers and forest guards of their respective areas would accompany the DFOs and ACFs and would also interact with the German team, it further said. 

Una, January 13
A north zone-level scientific review meeting of five states on preparedness to combat the incidence of yellow rust in standing wheat crop was held at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) here.

Union Agriculture Commissioner Dr JS Sandhu and former Deputy Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Dr PL Gautam were part of the deliberations, in which senior research scientists and field officials of the Agriculture Department participated.

Nodal officer of the Yellow Rust Control Programme Dr Indu Sharma, Directorate of Wheat Research in Karnal, said during the current rabi season, the incidence of the fungal pest was reported at two places, Yamunanagar in Haryana and Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, while no occurrence of the rust was reported from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

It is reported that yellow rust, an air-borne fungal disease, infects wheat crop and is responsible for 40 to 50 per cent damage of grains after infestation. Scientist-in-charge of KVK, Dr Arvind Kumar, said long spells of humid and cold weather were conducive to spread of the disease. He said at the meeting, research and coordination at the national and state levels for vigilance against the outbreak of the plant disease and preventive measures to be adopted in case of an infection were discussed in detail.

Dr Arvind said while efforts were being made to phase out yellow rust-susceptible varieties of seed and replace these with resistant varieties, one could not be 100 per cent sure about the non-occurrence of the disease.

He said an online weekly status report was to be filed by each district, which would be monitored at the Directorate of Wheat Research in Hisar.

In case of an outbreak, the farmers would be advised through the extension network. Vice-Chancellor of the CSK Agriculture University Palampur, Dr KK Katoch, Director, Extension, Dr YS Paul and Agriculture Directors from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand participated in the meeting, while there was no representation from Uttar Pradesh.

Kangra, January 13
Ashok Aima, Head, Human Resource Management and Organisation Behaviour Department at Central University of Jammu, on Friday said tourism should be embedded in the social and cultural life of people.

He was speaking during a discussion on "Emerging trends in Indian tourism" organised at the Central University of Himachal Pradesh.—OC

Kangra, January 13
Lohri was celebrated with religious fervour at different places in the Kangra valley today. Bonfires were lit at main chowks of the town and in courtyards of houses.

To acquaint the present generation with Indian traditions and festivals, Lohri was celebrated at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Alhilal Cantonment.

Principal Satish Kumar lit the bonfire and girl students of the primary section joined him in the ritual.

Stuti Sharma of Class I sang a folk song, as per the tradition of this hill state, asking the Principal to give her Lohri. She was given blessings along with token money. Packets of groundnuts and revari were distributed among all those present. 

Station House Officer, Kangra police station, Mohinder Singh Manhas said 16-year-old Preetka of Choti Halerd village had allegedly consumed some poisonous substance. As her condition deteriorated, she was rushed to DRPGMC, Tanda, where she died. The body was sent for postmortem.