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Forensic investigations to be speeded up
Dissolution of private varsities to be raised to 40 years
Seminar on domestic
violence
Police begins probe into land allotted to Patanjali Yogpeeth
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HP pins hopes on Bansal for expansion of rail network
The toy train in Shimla. Photo: Amit Kanwar
Illegal road carved out in reserve forest area
The illegal road carved out through forest land on the Dharampur-Sanawar road.
Librarians’ body accuses govt of violating HC’s decision
IT education to be taught in all schools: Pathania
HRTC vice-chairman Kewal Singh Pathania addresses the public at Jaraid village
on Monday. Photo: Ashok Raina
NHPC spends Rs 1.07 crore on development schemes in Chamba
Trust moves HC against lease cancellation
Environment groups oppose setting up of cement plants
Students told to strengthen knowledge base
‘Need to channelise energy of rural youth’
State seeks funds for Assembly to go online
Complete forensic lab building by next month: Addl Chief Secy
2 killed in Nurpur road accidents
Plea to incorporate consumer protection in school syllabus
200 anganwari kendras to be opened soon
Girl’s body found
from jungle, murder suspected
Women’s body submits memo to DC
Boar mauls 2 labourers
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Forensic investigations to be speeded up
Mandi, February 25 These measures, said top police and forensic officials, aimed at modernising and sprucing up the sluggish and time-consuming police investigations. “It takes a month to send and get forensic investigation reports for the police. Once reports go online, it will be a click away,” the officials said. “It is a link between the police and the forensic examination team. This will make investigations more transparent and we will be able to keep a watch on the delay”, said DGP ID Bhandari. According to official figures, the police had sought forensic investigation in 5,548 cases last year, 2,175 cases were in Shimla range, 1,375 cases in Mandi and 2,000 in Dharamsala. “On an average, we get 200 cases in Shimla, 105 in Mandi and 170 in Dharamsala labs every month”, sources revealed. Director, State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL), Dr Arun Sharma said, “The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed the software for the project. The police will upload the cases at the respective police station and we will download the same within seconds. The time taken in transition will be cut down to a few seconds”. Dr Sharma said the Forensic Science Development Board gave a month for forensic investigations. “But the delay part will be cut down drastically and in turn will speed up the delivery of justice. The team will inspect the labs soon as these are fully equipped and will be at par with the other labs in the country,” he added. “We have trained officials at the Central forensic labs in New Delhi and Chandigarh,” he said. Besides, the SFSL would have the voice testing facility that would obviate the need of sending voice samples for testing to Ahmedabad lab which took a year or more. The Vidhan Sabha’s estimate committee had approved it, Dr Sharma said. He added that this was being done as the SFSL was celebrating silver jubilee this year. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would inaugurate the new lab building at Mandi soon, he said. |
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Dissolution of private varsities to be raised to 40 years
Shimla, February 25 The Cabinet in its last meeting discussed the issue threadbare and it was decided to make amendments in each of the Private University Acts passed by the state Assembly in the past. The Education Department has already initiated the process to bring about these amendments in the Acts of these private universities. Henceforth, any university would be allowed to close down operations only after the completion of 40 years of its existence. The Congress, while in the Opposition, had demanded that the minimum time period fixed by the government before which a university could not close down should be raised from 25 years to 40 years. Now, back in power, the ruling party wants to go ahead with this amendment in the Act. At present there are a total of 21 universities in Himachal, 16 of which are private and 10 out of these are located in Solan district alone. The move is being viewed as an attempt by the government to tighten its noose around any non-serious player who makes a foray into the field of education in the state. The main apprehension expressed by the Congress was that the minimum time period for the dissolution of a university be raised to 40 years as these could turn into real-estate ventures as land in the hill state was scarce. The other issue on which the new Congress regime seems to be very particular is to not allow any new private university in Solan district. The previous Dhumal regime had drawn flak for allowing a majority of the private universities in Solan. At present there are 10 universities in the district, including four at the Atal Shiksha Kunj at Kalu Ka Jhanda, Manav Bharti, Markanday, Bahara University, Baddi University, Jaypee University and Shlooni University of Biotechnology and Management Science. In fact, a private university with a reputed name in the field of education, despite having been issued a letter of intent (LOI), has declined to set up a university, as they were keen on Solan district. Another university is proposed for Mandi and an LOI has been already issued. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has in the past said the Congress is not against the setting up of private universities, provided they are an established name in the field of education and are financially sound. The Congress is keen that private universities be set up in districts like Kullu and Bilaspur as they do not have any big educational institutes. |
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Protection officers not doing duty properly: NGOs
Tribune News Service
Mandi, February 25 Farruqui was here to deliver a talk during a two-day seminar on domestic violence organised by the District Legal Services Authority. Though many differed on the one-sided pro-woman law, she quelled certain misconceptions and myths about the Domestic Violence Act. She said POs should first identify the victim, fill up form No. 3 focusing mainly on prime violations of human rights and then file a DIR in the court to seek an immediate relief for the victim. “As per the Act, the victim is always a woman, but a violator is always a man, even if domestic violence is wreaked by his mother, wife or sister,” she said. “Men should not take it as an anti-male law, if they believe in equality. Moreover, they can seek legal remedy in higher courts if complaints are false,” she said. But a few differed with Farruqui saying the ultimate sufferers of the fallout of domestic violence were children and it could lead to broken families. Farruqui cited examples where relief was denied to a victim and she was murdered later. POs should give immediate protection and relief to prevent a more heinous crime, she added. District and Sessions Judge, Mandi, Varinder Singh said the seminar aimed at training and sensitising NGOs and POs working in the district to aid victims of domestic violence. Those who were present on the occasion included Chief Judicial Magistrate Madan Kumar and judicial officials from Mandi, including Dr Baldev Singh, Padam Singh Thakur, Rajesh Chauhan, Upasana Sharma and Deepika. Meanwhile, NGOs charged that protection officers were not doing their duty properly by bringing victims to courts as per their mandate under the Domestic Violence Act. The POs pointed out that they were not aware about the Act and other judicial procedure to pursue the cases. RTI Bureau, Mandi, convener Lawan Thakur charged that the POs were not doing their duties properly and the authorities should take penal action against them. As many as 5,500 cases in the state of which 2,000 cases were solved, 1,500 disposed of in courts and the rest pending, he said. Official sources said most of the POs were matriculate and appointed by the Social Welfare Department. They also did not grasp nuances of legal lexicon. Besides, most of them were anganwadi workers and did not visit troubled homes or victims of human rights violations. District and Sessions Judge Varinder Singh said the State Legal Services Authority trained POs. “There are over 130 POs out of whom we have invited 65 POs to the workshop for training. We are sensitising them and fill up gaps in knowledge by holding workshops from time to time,” he added.
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Police begins probe into land allotted to Patanjali Yogpeeth
Solan, February 25 However, a field official had in its December 2009 report said the 28-acre land, which was proposed to be leased out to the Patanjali Yogpeeth, had been vested with the state government under the Himachal Pradesh Village Common Land Vesting and Utilisation Act, 1974, and it belonged to the common pool. The land was later allotted to the Patanjali Yogpeeth in 2010. However, a recent inquiry conducted by the Revenue Department found that the field report given by an officer in December 2009 was incorrect and misleading as the land had not been vested with the state government. It was granted to the Governor of Punjab by the Maharaja of Patiala, which became the property of the state government after the division of Punjab. The Assistant Chief Secretary (Revenue), according to a letter written to the Deputy Commissioner, had directed officials to investigate in detail about the misleading report filed by the field official of the Revenue Department in December 2009, which appeared to be aimed at facilitating grant of land lease to the Patanjali Yogpeeth. While confirming this, RC Chajjta, Superintendent of Police, Solan, said he had received a copy of the complaint, which had been forwarded from the deputy commissioner’s office in this regard. He added that he had directed the DSP (Headquarters) to enquire into this issue and submit a report within the next fortnight. He said since the recent report contradicted the December-2009 report, it had to be investigated in detail. This revelation has added another controversy to the 28-acre land, which was leased out to the Patanjali Yogpeeth at Kehlog village in Kandaghat tehsil by the previous BJP government in 2010. The state government has now taken possession of the land after cancelling its lease.
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Ramdev to hold rally in Solan tomorrow
Baba’s itinerary
Solan, February 25 The MC had earlier verbally denied them permission to hold the rally. However, it was granted today after the state government reportedly decided not to create an undue controversy in this matter and the Deputy Commissioner was supposedly given directions to facilitate the trust. Laxmi Dutt, state in charge, Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, while giving details of Ramdev’s visit, said he would arrive at 1 pm on February 27 and be received at Dohri Dwal from where he would proceed to the Thodo Ground. Earlier in the day, they were being offered the Police Ground, which is located on the outskirts of the town, but the trust members refused to hold a rally there as it would have been difficult to inform people about the new venue barely two days before the event, Dutt said. He said scores of social organisations had approached them for being a part of Ramdev’s programme at the Thodo Ground, where he would address their office-bearers, who were slated to arrive from all over the state. The permission had been granted for a meeting of the office-bearers and yoga-related activities, he said. A huge police posse continues to be stationed in the town as a precautionary step to maintain law and order. Dutt said they were law-abiding citizens who did not want to get into
any confrontation with the state government. |
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HP pins hopes on Bansal for expansion of rail network
Shimla, February 25 It is after more than four decades that a leader from the north is holding this portfolio and all the states of the region, Himachal in particular, are pinning high hopes on him. The extent of neglect suffered by the state could be judged from the fact that only a 44-km rail track has been laid since Independence on the Nangal-Talwara section, which is still incomplete. Work on the Rs 1,048-crore Bhanupali-Bilaspur track has not begun and even the process of land acquisition has been at a standstill. The state has a long list of demands, but the immediate focus is on the Chandigarh-Baddi link. It has suggested that in case the Chandigarh-Baddi link is not feasible, Baddi should be linked to the Kalka-Chandigarh track at a suitable point. It will help link Baddi with both Kalka and Chandigarh. A new track should also be laid from that point to link Dehradun via Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and other ministers have met Bansal and submitted various proposals. Besides providing adequate funds for completing the Nangal-Talwara track, Virbhadra Singh has also urged the minister to carry out a survey for extending the Bhanupali-Bilaspur line up to Mandi and beyond to join the Pathankot-Jogindernagar line at some feasible point. He had also demanded that the entire Nangal-Talwara track be electrified so that a changeover from diesel engine was not required. The state has assured the Centre that it would contribute its share of funds for the construction of the Bhanupali-Bilaspur line and also speed up the work of land acquisition, but the ministry must make adequate budgetary allocation for an expeditious completion of the link. The state urgently needs this connection for the carriage of cement from three big manufacturing units located close to Bilaspur. |
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Illegal road carved out in reserve forest area
Solan, February 25 The road was carved out using a JCB machine and it has provided connectivity to some plots sold off by local villagers to some builders. The task was accomplished last Saturday with the belief that the next day was a holiday and there would be sufficient time to dig the entire road without the prying eyes of the forest staff. Local villagers told The Tribune that they had heard a JCB machine working nearby, but being a cold night they did not bother to find out where it was working. The villagers residing in nearby areas like Sanawar, Chattiyan, Shiller etc were surprised to find a 100-m road dug out through the forest area the next morning. DFO, Solan Forest Division, Ashok Chauhan said an FIR had been lodged with the Dharampur police as it was a serious issue involving forest land. He added that they had already fenced the area with barbed wires and work was in progress to dig trenches to ensure that it could not be used as a road. It is worth mentioning that brisk sale and purchase of land has been going on in Kasauli tehsil for the past several years and builders often violate provisions while carrying out construction. This includes throwing muck after levelling hill sides onto forest land and even in nullahs which have been polluting irrigation schemes. Locals, in the lure of easy money, have been allowing such activities. |
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Librarians’ body accuses govt of violating HC’s decision
Dharam Prakash Gupta Tribune News Service
Hamirpur, February 25 Hundreds of assistant librarians working in the state have been demanding a regular pay scale for their category since several decades. A spokesman of the association said, “After the failure of the state government to give them a regular pay scale, several petitions have been filed in the past. In a case titled Madan Lal Tomar versus the State, the high court had recommended Rs 300-Rs 600 pay scale, which was existing in 1966 for us and the appeal of the state government was turned down in the Supreme Court filed against this decision”. “Instead of giving this scale to all of us, the state government gave this scale only to petitioners despite a clear direction of the court to extend it to all of us and that, too, not as per the scale, “he added. In other petitions filed by Kabita Kiran and BD Sarsawti, the high court also recommended this scale to assistant librarians, but the state government did not give them a regular pay scale. The members of the association said, “Though 338 of them are in service in various institutions, the state government has considered the cases of only 47 petitioners, who had approached the court. Splitting them into categories and paying them different emoluments is in violation of the directions of the court”. As per the pay scale recommended by the High Court, an assistant librarian is supposed to draw an approximate salary of about Rs 40,000, but they are being paid about Rs 19,000 per month and those working on a contract basis are being paid Rs 8,310. Amar Dev, joint director, secondary education, said, “The section officer fixes the pay scales of the assistant librarians after getting a clearance from the Finance Department and we are implementing the directions of the High Court regarding their pay scale”.
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IT education to be taught in all schools: Pathania
Kangra, February 25 He said every youth was supposed to be well equipped with the knowledge of IT for a better future. He said the Internet was a blessing for the common man as it was helping him in carrying out his day-to-day activities from home. He said one did not have to be in a queue for depositing water, power and telephone bills and getting seats reserved for air, rail and bus travel. All this could be done from home. He said IT education in all schools in the state would explore possibilities of having better job opportunities for the youths of this state. Pathania said 16 schools in the Shahpur constituency, which were closed by the previous BJP government, would be reopened very soon. He expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for making the Kangra valley an educational hub where the Central University and the Tanda medical college were set up by him and new professional colleges too were coming up there. Pathaina said shortly an “employment fair” would be organised at Shahpur where well-known industrial houses would select youth for jobs and give them appointment letters on the spot. He directed the Regional Transport Officer to start the Private Green Bus Service between Dharamsala-Kuthar-Pariayee. Rajeev Bhawani, president, Ujwal Bharat Janjagran Sansthan, which organised the programme, welcomed Pathania. Major Kuldeep Buloria (retd), Shashi Kant and Mehal Mandal Pradan Swarna Devi were present on the occasion. |
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NHPC spends Rs 1.07 crore on development schemes in Chamba
Chamba, February 25 The GM said under the scheme, Rs 40.5 lakh was being spent during the current fiscal year to develop and uplift the residents living on the verge of the project. He said the major development works included construction of additional accommodation of a Gujjar ashram at Kalsuin village, sewerage system at Karian village, renovation of a road, a footpath and drains at Rakh village in addition to the construction of crematoria near Julakari. He said other activities include six months’ training in tailoring for 20 girls at Rajera village, besides a stipend for 15 poor students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and BPL families. Free medical camps for poor patients were being organised at regular intervals and free medicines provided at such camps. Other basic amenities were also being made available to residents of adjoining areas, the GM said, adding that the NHPC was grateful for the cooperation being extended by residents and the government for overall development of the region.
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Trust moves HC against lease cancellation
Shimla, February 25 It further alleged that the state had taken over the possession of the land forcefully without giving any notice to the trust. The trust said the action of the state was “arbitrary” as it had not given any “reason” for cancelling the lease and an opportunity of being heard was “not granted” to the trust while passing such an order. It said the action of the state was “against” the principles of natural justice and administrative law. It alleged that the lease deed was duly executed between the trust and the state government and it could not be revoked or cancelled by any executive order. In its petition, the trust urged the court to set aside and quash the order of the state government and direct it to give possession of the land to the trust. It was further stated in the petition that they had already spent almost Rs 11 crore for the development of the land and a Yog Bhawan and a hospital had already been constructed on the land. |
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Environment groups oppose setting up of cement plants
Palampur, February 25 In its meeting held here recently, six NGOs flayed the decision of the state government to conduct a meeting of the screening committee to grant permission to cement companies to set up plants in the state. Members of the Palampur Welfare and Environment Protection Forum (PWEPF), Save Palampur, Himalaya Nitti, Dhauladhar Protection Society and Changer Paryavaran Sangh also participated in the meeting. Talking to mediapersons, KB Ralhan, spokesperson, PWEPF, said the government should encourage only eco-friendly industries and emphasise on the expansion and development of tourism industry in the state. He said six cement plants functioning in the state had played “havoc” with nature. Illegal mining of limestone was going on unabated and thousands of acres of land and green hills had turned barren, he added. The State Pollution Control Board and the State Environment and Industries Department had become a mute spectator and failed to initiate action in this regard, he alleged. Ralhan urged environment groups of the state to oppose the move of the government. He said if the government failed to cancel its decision, environmentalists would approach the high court for appropriate action. |
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Students told to strengthen knowledge base
Bilaspur, February 25 This call was given by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Rajesh Dharmani (Forests) while addressing as chief guest the annual prize distribution function of Government Swami Vivekananda Memorial College at Ghumarwin, near here, yesterday. Dharmani said parents and teachers should ensure that their wards did not go astray and fall in bad company, and avoid all types of bad habits which were gripping the youth due to Western influences. He urged the students to make a resolve to fight consistently against all social evils and exploitation of any section or individual in society in their areas. He announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for opening the Vibrant Youth and Empowerment Centre at the college and wanted the staff to widen NSS activities of the college to make these more beneficial to all. He promised to provide useful books for the college library through the Samvedna Charitable Society working there. Earlier, Principal Uma Varma read the annual progress report and gave details of achievements of students. Dharmani distributed prizes and certificates among talented students.
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‘Need to channelise energy of rural youth’
Solan, February 25 Shandil was speaking at a function organised by the Sirmaur Kalyan Manch here recently. He said the energy of the youth in rural areas was required to be given a direction so that their potential could be used in the best interest of the country. Career guidance cells should be established region wise so that awareness about job opportunities and better career options could be delivered to youth. He said the allocation of funds for the construction of anganwari centres had been doubled in the state which would improve infrastructure at the village level and provide better facilities to children. Earlier, while inaugurating the function, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Vinay Kumar said aspirations and expectations of people of Sirmaur would be fulfilled by the present government. Development of rural and backward areas would be given priority and more job opportunities would be created. He also said the statue of Dr YS Parmar, which was erected at Raboun, would be shifted to a proper place in the town.
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State seeks funds for Assembly to go online
Shimla, February 25 He held detailed discussion on the funding of the Rs 7.75-crore
e-Vidhan project, which included Rs 4.52 crore for providing IT infrastructure and Rs 3.23 crore for operating the system for the next five years. He said it would be a green governance tool for the state Vidhan Sabha and provide complete workflow-based Internet-enabled solution for an automated functioning of various committees and members of the Assembly. The project would help in reducing use of paper and improvement of carbon rating, he
said. Butail requested Sibal to sanction the required funds for the project and consider the project as a mission mode project under the e-governance action plan. Sibal assured him that the Centre would provide full support to the project. Dr VK Sharma, Director General, National Informatics Centre
(NIC), Balbir Tegta, Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, and other officials from the NIC Directorate were present at the meeting. |
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Complete forensic lab building by next month: Addl Chief Secy
Mandi, February 25 While inspecting the RFSL building, Kumar directed the HPSIDC, which has constructed the building, to ready it for inauguration. Director of State Forensic Science Laboratory Dr Arun Sharma, who also accompanied the ASC, said the RFSL would house three divisions: physics and ballistic, chemistry and toxicology and biology and serology. The government had released an additional grant of Rs 48 lakh for the building. He said the building had cost Rs 2 crore and had an elevator and parking facility on the ground floor. At present, the RFSL is functioning from hired premises at Gutkar. The RFSL caters to Mandi, Kullu, Bilaspur and Lahaul-Spiti districts. Mandi DC Devesh Kumar, IGP, Central Range, Atul Kumar and Mandi SP RS Negi were also present during the inspection.
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2 killed in Nurpur road accidents
Nurpur, February 25 According to information, a Tata Vista car (HP 40A- 6791) hit against a stationary truck (PB-12L-8995) which the driver had parked on the road for the night. Car occupant Gulshan Kumar (30) of Pathankot died on the spot, while car driver Raj Kumar of the same area was injured seriously. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Pathankot. Nurpur DSP said the truck driver fled after the mishap and the police had registered a case under Sections 279, 336, 337 and 304-A, IPC, against him. In another accident, Amar Deep (21) of Hagwal succumbed to his injuries he had received when his motorcycle (HP 38-7140) was hit by a speeding Maruti car (PB-02Y-4003) at Bhadroya. The accused car driver is absconding against whom the police has registered a case under different sections of the IPC and Motor Vehicle Act. The bodies of the accident victims were handed over to the families after postmortem on Monday. |
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Plea to incorporate consumer protection in school syllabus
Nurpur, February 25 Urging the state and union governments, parishad president Shiv Dutt Bhardwaj said here today that people were not aware of consumer protection rules. “Even states are not serious about enforcing the Food Adulteration Act effectively,” he lamented. He alleged that there was no government agency which could check overcharging and enormous margin of profit of medicines by chemists in the state. Bhardwaj claimed that the parishad had been working for the past 15 years for educating consumers about their rights and it had done a commendable job in tribal areas of the hill state. He said the parishad had set up consumer clubs in government schools to create awareness among schoolchildren about consumer protection rights.
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200 anganwari kendras to be opened soon
Nahan, February 25 Shandil urged people to come forward and donate land for such kendras as government land was not available at all the places. He also recalled the contributions made by Kinkri Devi, an environmentalist of Sangrah, for environment protection and suggested that a park should be set up in her memory. MP Sood, special secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment, district programme officer RK Sharma, and CDPO Priya Tomar were also present on the occasion. |
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Girl’s body found
from jungle, murder suspected
Bilaspur, February 25 Reports said her father was away at work while her mother had gone to fetch merchandise from the bazar. When Champa did not return till late evening, her worried mother, accompanied by other women, went searching for her with the family dog. The dog started barking in a particular direction which led the women
to the body. A big hammer, apparently used to hit her on her head, was lying nearby. Villagers informed the police which arrived and took the body for postmortem. SP Anupam Sharma also reached the spot. People suspect it to be a case of murder. A case under Section 302, IPC, has been registered. |
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Women’s body submits memo to DC
Hamirpur, February 25 They also met Hamirpur SP Jagat Ram and demanded strict action against all those involved in this case. The police registered a case and started an investigation. |
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“Neglected” by the Railways Ministry since Independence, the state is confident that the regional connection of Pawan Bansal will make him look northwards and “undo the injustice” suffered by the hill state all these years by including some of the long-pending proposals in his maiden Budget.
It is after more than four decades that a leader from the north is holding this portfolio and all the states of the region, Himachal in particular, are pinning high hopes on him.
Solan, February 25
All schools in this hill state will be introduced to information and technology (IT) in a phased manner to make them well versed in the subject.
This was stated by vice-chairman, HRTC, Kewal Singh Pathania today while addressing a public meeting at Jaraid village near Rait after he inaugurated the Ujwal Bharat Computer
Centre.
