Shimla, August 24
The construction of a bungalow and staff quarters on the over four-bigha plot purchased by Priyanka Gandhi is likely to begin shortly after the process of mutation is completed.

Priyanka Gandhi today formally became the owner of four bighas and five biswas of land in Charabra on the outskirts of the town after the registry was done in her name on a payment of Rs 46.79 lakh. The mutation is likely to take about five days after which the land would be transferred in her name in the revenue records.

The formalities regarding the registration of the land in her name was done in the office of the tehsildar today. Local Congress leader Kehar Singh Khachi, who has been given the power of attorney by Priyanka, is completing all necessary formalities in this connection. A payment of Rs 46,79, 868 was made on behalf of Priyanka by Khachi through a cheque.

The site which Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra has selected is located below the Kalyani helipad in Charabra. “The couple chose this particular piece of land after seeing four other sites we had shown her in and around this area,” said Khachi. He added that Priyanka had specifically mentioned that her grandmother, Indira Gandhi, too had been keen to have a house in this very area.

The site has already been approved from the security point of view and was shown to the NSG during her last visit to Shimla. “She is keen to have a small bungalow along with staff quarters for her staff and security personnel,” said Khachi.

While the actual value of the land is Rs 41 lakh, a stamp duty of Rs 2.34 lakh was paid for the transfer of the land. A registration fee of Rs 25,000 was also paid. The land deal also involved the payment of Rs 5 lakh, the value of the two-storeyed old structure which already exists on the plot.

Prinyanka has been visiting Shimla along with husband, Robert Vadra, and her two children for the past two years as she has special fondness for the place. She was keen to have a home of her own in the Mashobra and Charabra area, where she spent time taking long walks. “The land has been bought from Satyender Sood and some other partners who are living abroad,” said Khachi.

Shimla, August 24
The government will consider amending the Himachal Pradesh Public Premises and Land (Eviction and Rent Recovery), Act, to bring the wakf properties under its purview. It will also undertake the task of changing entries of wakf properties in the name of the Punjab Wakf Board to the Himachal Pradesh Wakf Board on a war footing to provide legal protection.

This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while presiding over a meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Wakf Board here today.

The government would place the services of a revenue official at the disposal of the deputy commissioner concerned to identify the wakf properties, procure the revenue papers and consolidate the same so that appropriate action could be initiated to turn out the illegal occupants. He said that the wakf board had most valuable properties at prime locations all over the state which were in possession of people at nominal rents.

The board had over 800 properties in the state the majority of which were under illegal possession of unauthorised people. All such properties were being identified and consolidated in the record of the wakf board so that it could maintain the properties and generate income by way of rental and lease charges.

The Chief Minister said that the state government had already appointed survey commissioners and assistant survey commissioners to carry out the identification and evacuation of wakf properties.

The government had initiated steps to provide land for graveyards to the Muslim community in the areas where the facility was not available.

The Chief Minister said the issue pertaining to the share of the state wakf board needed to be taken up with the Punjab Wakf Board since the money transferred by the latter was much below the former’s ligitimate share. He directed that some responsible officers be deputed to pursue the matter with Punjab.

Revenue minister Sat Mahajan called upon officials to work overtime to retrieve the wakf properties after their proper identification. Such properties under the possession of the state government would be taken on lease and money deposited with the board.

Chairman of the board Gulzar Mohammad Bharti said the identification of the properties was in progress. 

Palampur, August 24
With the setting up of cement plants and execution of over 24 major power projects, the forest cover in the state has come under a serious threat.

According to a recent survey conducted by an NGO, the situation is alarming. The state has lost over 10,000 trees due to the setting up of these projects and other development activity over past five years. Kullu, Solan, Bilaspur and Shimla districts are the worst affected. Hundreds of acres have gone barren because of the reckless felling of trees for setting up of power projects and cement plants.

The state government had failed to initiate action against the defaulter companies, the survey says. In Kullu, Kangra and Shimla districts, private companies axed over 5,000 trees without obtaining any permission from the state government. The government agencies remained a silent spectators to all this and initiated action only after the trees had already been felled.

Though the power projects and cement plants being set up in state will generate additional revenue, at the same time these projects have become a major environmental hazard.

The companies executing these projects have failed to follow the norms fixed by the apex court and the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment.

Companies executing these projects do not even bother to reply the notices issued by the pollution control board.

The Nathpa Jhakri and other power projects set up on the Sutlej have virtually played havoc with nature. Thousands of trees have been cut in the Sutlej valley for the setting up of housing colonies and roads for these projects. Tons of silt has been dumped in the Sutlej. Ultimately, the entire silt has landed in the Bhakra reservoir.

The silt and other materials extracted from tunnels of power projects being executed in the Kullu valley have also been thrown into the Beas. Similar will be the situation in case of the Kol Dam project being executed on the Sutlej near Bilaspur. In this case also, no provisions have been made for the disposal of silt and stones to be extracted from tunnels. Continuous flow of silt to Bhakra and Pong reservoirs has been reducing their lives.

Shimla, August 24
The post of chief wildlife warden has been upgraded to the level of principal chief conservator of forests and the total strength of the state IFS cadre has gone up by five in the cadre review exercise undertaken by the Centre.

According to sources the cadre review committee, which met at Delhi two days ago, has also approved the creation of a post of additional principal chief conservator of forests specifically to look after the catchment area treatment (CAT) plans. Besides, two posts of chief conservator of forests have also been created for the emerging area of eco-tourism and forest protection and forest fire prevention. The formal orders will be issued shortly.

The total strength of the state cadre has gone up from 102 to 107. The state will now have two principal chief conservators of forests, four additional principal chief conservators of forests, eight chief conservators of forests and 17 conservators of forests.

The strength of DFOs has gone up from 31 to 32 and the total number of promotion posts at various levels has also increased from 31 to 32.

The creation of a post of chief conservator of forests for eco-tourism will help implement effectively the eco-tourism policy formulated recently. 

Hamirpur, August 24
The SC and ST Development Corporation has implemented several schemes to benefit the weaker sections.

The corporation has started Swarojgar Yojna for people living below poverty line under which bank loans are provided up to Rs 50,000 at 4 per cent interest for starting self-employed ventures, besides a grant of Rs 10,000.

Under this scheme, 1,84972 SC and 17,973 ST families were given financial help of Rs 151.01 crore and Rs 21.54 crore, respectively, in 2005-06.

The corporation is also giving loans up to Rs 25,000 at 4 per cent interest to members of the weaker sections out of which Rs 10,000 is given as a grant to start any small business. Under this scheme, 1,034 beneficiaries were distributed Rs 194.93 lakh in the past financial year while Rs 112.07 lakh were given to 554 families in the current year.

The loans above Rs 40,000 and Rs 55,000 in urban areas are given under the Him Swalamban Yojna at 6 per cent interest. Under this scheme, 1,162 families have been given Rs 3094 lakh in 2005-06 while Rs 91.82 lakh have been distributed during the current year.

The students of these categories can also avail an education loan up to Rs 1 lakh for pursuing professional courses. A loan up to Rs 75,000 is given free of interest which is payable within five years. As many as 449 students were given Rs 123.69 lakh during 2005-06 and Rs 42.42 lakh in the current year.

The corporation has also launched training programmes for boys and girls of this category for which stipends of Rs 500 each are given.

Dharamsala, August 24
Few telephone numbers of Himachal circle are being used in the terrorist-affected border areas of Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir. Stunned over the reports, security agencies in Himachal Pradesh have sprung into action and a high-level probe has been ordered. Chamba SP S.P.S. Verma was investigating the matter keeping in view, the sensitivity of the matter.

Confirming this here today, DGP (northern range) P.L. Thakur told The Tribune that the Chamba police had received a complaint in this regard and the district police chief was himself inquiring into the matter.

He said that the SP had summoned the past three months call details of those numbers the details of which were available with them from both the BSNL and the private company so as to ascertain whether these telephone numbers were operating in the Jammu and Kashmir region.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that a special team of the police had also been dispatched to certain areas of Kathua to locate the telephone numbers, the details of which were available with them.

On the other hand, it was also learnt that the Central/state intelligence agencies had also started inquiring into the matter at their own level, suspecting that these telephone numbers might have been used by ISI agents or terrorists.

Solan, August 24
A Delhi youth has not only duped various businessmen, jewellers and electronics dealers in the town but has also managed to flee despite his fraud being brought to light, while he was residing here.

His fraud came to light when the businessmen found their cheques issued in lieu of purchase getting bounced one after the other.

The youth identified as Darshan Singh who is in his mid-twenties first gained the confidence of dealers by paying for small purchases and later made big purchases for which he paid through postdated cheques (PDCs).

A jeweller Rajinder Kumar said Darshan alias, laddi, alias Sanju, bought jewellery from him and paid cash for it. He said he did not suspect any fraud when he furnished a PDC cheque of Rs 99,000 on the purchase. Since the total amount was Rs 1.20 lakh, Darshan promised to pay the balance amount of Rs 21,000 in cash within a few days.

The unsuspecting jeweller was, however, shocked to find his cheque no - 194331 drawn from Parwanoo Urban Co-operative Bank, dated June 5, against an account number of 50225, getting bounced.

A property dealer who lost about Rs 2.5 lakh at the hands of Darshan said PDC cheques of Rs 22,000 were issued by him against his account number 50225 drawn from Parwanoo Urban Co-operative Bank, Solan. These cheques also bounced.

Surprisingly, when these people threatened Darshan he gave them the keys of an Indica car and promised that he would soon return the money. It was later found that the car belonged to someone at Shoghi.

Similarly, an electronics dealer Navneet Khanna was duped of Rs 60,000 when Darshan purchased a plasma TV from him and gave him a PDC cheque drawn on Centurion Bank. Khanna said Darshan had earlier bought items worth Rs 20,000 for which he had paid in cash.

SHO Ramesh Sharma said investigations were on into the case. The jeweller said before they could lay their hands on Darshan, he fled.They managed to get his address and went to Delhi to locate him. Despite meeting his father and receiving an assurance of returning their money, they could gain nothing.

Dharamsala, August 24
The one-man committee headed by Justice O.P. Garg (retd.) today issued notices to former transport and tourism minister G.S. Bali, chief executive officer of the Star News, reporter of the Star News, manager/owner of the hotel/resort, petitioner who filed the case in the high court and the organizer of the party to appear before the committee on August 10 and 11.

Justice Garg had been appointed by the state government early this week on the recommendations of the high court to conduct a probe into the alleged behaviour-cum-moral conduct of Bali with regard to his birthday party bash that forced him to step down from the Cabinet on moral grounds.

Assistant commissioner to the deputy commissioner of Kangra Amrit Lal Sharma, who has been asked to assist Justice Garg in the probe said Jagwinder Patial, reporter of Star News, Raj Arora who arranged the party and owner/manager of the Asia Health Resort, McLeodganj, where the party was arranged had been summoned to appear before the committee on August 10 at 11.00 am for a personal hearing.

Similarly, Vijay Kumar the petitioner who had filed the public interest litigation in the high court, Bali and chief executive officer of Star news had been summoned on August 11 for the hearing, said the AC. The hearings in this matter would be conducted in the court of the deputy commissioner of Kangra based at Dharamsala. 

Shimla, August 24
IPH minister Kaul Singh Thakur today stressed the need for better coordination between various agencies for planned and systematic development of towns.

He was speaking at a three-day workshop for city managers, organised jointly by the state government, USAID-FIRE (D) and the National Institute of Urban Affairs today. “Our efforts must be aimed at improving the quality of life of the citizens by providing them potable drinking water, sewerage system and other basic facilities,” he said.

He said providing safe drinking water was the basic necessity which remained a top priority for the government. “All census villages had already been covered and the left out habitations would be covered in a time-bound manner,” he said. 

Nahan, August 24
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Vir Bhadra Singh, will inaugurate the first academic session of Akal College of Engineering andTechnology (ACET) at Baru Sahib, tomorrow.

Being run by the Kalgidhar Trust, the ACET is affiliated to the Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, US. and offers B. Tech. programmes in electronics and communication, electrical and electronics, computer science and information technology. All 240 seats of the ACET have already been filled. Himachal students have been allotted the benefit of 188 seats, while about 30 seats are reserved for the management and remaining to be filled by Central quota.

The Kalgidhar Trust also envisages an ambitious plan of establishing one university and a nursing college at Baru Sahib, the Trust is also running 23 rural academies in North India with nearly 20,000 students on its role.

Nurpur, August 24
Taking a tough stand against corruption in the HRTC, ruling Congress’ frontal organisation INTUC has decided to stage a dharna in front of the Vidhan Sabha during the coming monsoon session and hold a demonstration at the secretariat to protest against the failure of the government to act on the chargesheet submitted after framing charges of corruption in seven HRTC depots.

State INTUC general secretary and member of the State Minimum Wages Board Rajnesh Sharma said here last evening said that state INTUC chief Amarjeet Singh had constituted an anti-corruption committee to draw the attention of the government to rampant corruption and scams in the HRTC through a chargesheet submitted on July 28. “But till today the government has not acted on the chargesheet or taken any action against the corrupt elements in the HRTC,” he lamented.

He urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to conduct an inquiry into the working and performance of the HRTC by a sitting high court judge. He said INTUC had also decided to file public interest litigation (PIL) in the high court against the poor state of affairs in the HRTC.

The INTUC leader alleged that the industries set up in the private sector had been violating the MoU signed with the government to ensure 70 per cent employment to the locals but the state Industries and Labour Department was keeping silent. He also asked the government to ensure the payment of minimum wages in the private sector. He urged the government to regularise the services of 8,800 home guards on the pattern of other state departments. 

Mandi, August 24
With over 17 cases testing positive for scrub typhus fever at the zonal hospital here, the heath authorities today sounded an alert in all hospitals to monitor the outbreak of an epidemic of typhus fever as over 130 patients have reported positive at different hospitals in the district in the past five days. Doctors attending on patients said fever cases had been pouring in from all over the district, including Kullu and Bilaspur as well.

Doctors said “Out of 41 cases 17 patients have tested positive for scrub typhus and reports of 8 patients are awaited tomorrow. Six patients were admitted to the zonal hospital today.”

Suprisingly, there was no antigen available for the test in the hospital. It had to be availed from Kasauli three days ago. Doctors said over 500 patients were examined at the OPD everyday and about 30 per cent suffered from the fever.

Senior medical superintendent Dr B.D. Sharma said over 130 cases of fever had been reported in the district in the past five days.  He said typhus fever if not treated well in time could be life-threatening for the patient. 

Hamirpur, August 24
State BJP spokesman Rajinder Rana has accused the state government of failing to protect the interests of the state by not securing a package from the Centre. He also took the government to task for not making the full use of the industrial package given by NDA government in 2002.

Talking to mediapersons here on Friday he said “while Uttarakhand and J & K attracted an industrial capital of Rs 19035.89 crore and Rs 3403.47 crore, respectively, through the industrial package for the hill states till June, 2006, only Rs 2053.04 crore were invested in Himachal.”

Investment could not be invited due to inept handling of industrialists by the state government, rued Rana. 

Hamirpur, August 24
Women from the Kalanjhari area blocked traffic at Kalanjhari, about 5 km from here, for about two hours on Friday to protest the arbitrary behaviour of private bus operators.

The main grouse of the residents is that private bus operators do not allow them to travel in their buses due to a short journey because of which women and school children are put to great hardships.

Traffic was restored after Hamirpur SDM R.K Pruthi assured the protesters to take up the matter with the RTO.

“Since the matter pertains to the RTO we have asked him to convene a meeting of private bus operators to sort out the matter,” the SDM said.