On the radar

* The names of IAS officer PC Dhiman and retired Director (Higher Education) OP Sharma are likely to be added in the supplementary chargesheet

* The fresh names, which have come out during investigation, are likely to be added in the supplementary chargesheet

* The building was pulled down in 2008 by declaring it unsafe and 720 sq m of land was included in the HPCA complex

Shimla, July 23
The Union Ministry of Culture has approved the Indian Institute of Baudh Darshan (IIBD) at Tabo at a cost of over Rs 7 crore which will help the ancient monastery located in Lahaul and Spiti to emerge as an important seat of Buddhist and Tibetan learning.

The ministry has already sanctioned the money and the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (CIBS) in Leh has been entrusted the responsibility of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) of the proposed centre. The main reason for selecting Tabo is that it has an ancient monastery set up in 996 AD and houses some of the most antique and rarest murals, paintings, sculptures and historical antiquities.

“A chunk of land measuring 30 acres has been selected at Dhang Chhumi village, barely 10 km from Tabo village, and work will start the moment all clearances for the transfer of land are completed,” said Upma Chawdhry, Additional Chief Secretary, Language, Art and Culture.

The money will be spent on the institute which will have an academic learning centre along with accommodation for the staff and hostels for students.

It was Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who, while being the Union Minister for Steel, had requested the Prime Minister to open the IIBD so as to develop Tabo as an important seat of Buddhist learning. Tabo figures high on the itinerary of most foreign tourists and those fascinated by Tibetan Buddhism.

The IIBD will help in giving a major fillip to tourism in the area which is a repository of the ancient Buddhist culture.

Though initially land measuring 60 acres had been finalised for the IIBD at Dhar Janda Chuska, with the site being located on the east bank of the Spiti, a bridge was required to be constructed to provide connectivity.

“Since the bridge will have involved an additional cost of almost Rs 3 crore and a minimum of three years will have been spent on its construction, we have decided to change the site to a place which has better connectivity and is barely 30 minutes drive form Tabo,” explained Chawdhry.

A land inspection has been undertaken by Chawdhry, the district administration officials along with monks from the Tabo monastery.

The requirement of land for the IIBD is almost 100 acres but with land in the hills being scarce, special relaxation has been made. The Ministry of Culture had wanted the land in Tabo village but since such a huge chunk of land was not available, an alternate site had to be selected.

About the institute

* The institute will cost over Rs 7 crore

* The Central Institute of Buddhist Studies in Leh will prepare a detailed project report of the proposed centre

* It will have a learning centre along with accommodation for the staff and hostels for students

Shimla, July 23
The state government is giving timber distribution (TD) to right holders under rules notified on December 26, 2013, which will benefit stakeholders.

A state spokesperson said timber was being granted to the right holders who had their rights in the concerned forest settlement reports for construction, repair and addition or alteration of residential house and cow sheds for bonafide domestic use.

The TD is not being granted in case the land owner has purchased the land after obtaining permission from the government under Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, he added.

Timber is only being granted to the head of the family as per the panchayat records.

The holders will get 7 cubic metre TD standing volume once in 15 years, instead of 30 years. For repair work, they will get 3 cubic metre once in five years, not in 15 years, as was the case earlier and it has to be utilised in a year’s time.

The sufferers of natural calamities will not be given timber distribution more than 7 cubic metres, which is the maximum limit.

They will have to pay Rs 500 per cubic metre standing volume for deodar and Rs 250 per cubic metre standing volume for other species. The right holders suffering from natural calamities will be given trees free of cost and the rates once fixed will be valid for five years.

If a holder fails to perform his duties of apprehending offenders, extinguishing fire or commits any offence, his TD will be suspended for 16 years.

As per the new rules, no TD will be made for 10 years to those who have sold trees yielding timber for construction of houses from his private land holding.

Shimla, July 23
BJP MP from Mandi, Ram Swaroop Sharma, today urged Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani to establish an examination centre for the NET-JRF examination in Mandi.

In a letter to the Union Minister, Sharma said at present there was only one examination centre in the state which was situated at Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla and that students from far-flung areas had to come to Shimla to appear for the exam.

Shimla, July 23
The state government has restored 95 per cent grant-in-aid to the five government-aided colleges which was frozen by the previous BJP government. Sources said the grant-in-aid to these colleges was frozen at the level of March 31, 2008 by the BJP government.

The HP Non-Government College Teachers’ Association today hailed the decision and said their long-pending demand had been accepted and implemented. Faculties of the five colleges, under the banner of the HP Aided Colleges Lecturers Association, thanked Chief Minister Virbhardra Singh and hailed the government’s decision. They said it would further strengthen higher education in the state. As many as 8,000 students are getting higher education in these colleges.

These colleges are St Bede’s College, Shimla, MLSM College, Sundernagar, SVSD College, Bhatoli, DAV Colleges, Kangra, and DAV College, Kotkhai. MLSM College, Sundernagar, and DAV College, Kangra, are also running PG courses in physical sciences and life sciences, with an intake of 360 students, said faculty members.— TNS 

Una, July 23
The issue of “outsiders” entering the Una Government College campus flared up once again, as activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a strong protest at college Principal Dr SK Chawla’s office here today.

They said a number of youths, backed by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), who were not students of the college, entered the campus and spoiled the academic atmosphere. They said this was happening at the behest of the party in power and the college management was following the dictates of the political bosses as the elections to the College Student Central Associations were approaching.

Tempers flared up further as NSUI activists also gathered to counter ABVP’s allegation, forcing the college management to requisition the services of the police to avoid any untoward incident.

All this happened when about 50 ABVP supporters were protesting against the July 17 rape and brutal murder of a woman in Lucknow.

ABVP secretary Shivam Parashar said when protesters were issued threats by outsiders supported by the NSUI, the matter was reported to the principal.

Meanwhile, Dr Chawla said: “The entry of outsiders is strictly banned on the campus. Strict action will be taken against violators.”

Last month, there were complaints regarding some “outsiders” misbehaving with college girls in the canteen. The matter was referred to the police after an inquiry by the college disciplinary committee. 

Una, July 23
The final examination at the Una Industrial Training Institute (ITI) was delayed by more than two-and-a-half hours today due to shortage of question papers.

Term-end examination for the two-year ITI course in electrical, turner, fitter, motor mechanic, electronics, information technology and computer hardware trades for 628 students was scheduled today. Upon opening the bundles just before the examination, examiners discovered that 315 question papers of various trades were short.

After deliberations with higher officials in the Technical Education Directorate, it was decided to get the question papers photocopied and the entire process took about two-and-a-half hours.

The examination finally began at 5.15 pm. Students, who had come from far-off places, were harassed. Since the examination in other ITIs of the state were held on schedule, the students in Una were made to sit in the hall while additional papers were being photocopied, to avoid the risk of pilferage of questions from other places.

Rajeshwar Goel, state Technical Education Director, said the matter would be taken up with the Central Technical Directorate in Delhi, from where the question papers were received. He said it would be ensured that there was no repeat of the incident.

Shimla, July 23
The Excise and Taxation Department will install CCTV cameras on main barriers, sealing the inter-state routes, stepping up checking and keeping an eye on defaulting establishments, including hotels.

“We propose to install CCTV cameras at main inter-state barriers in Parwanoo, Mehatpur, Baddi, Paonta Sahib, Kangra and other places and the barriers will be set up in due course,” Excise and Taxation Minister Prakash Chowdhary told The Tribune.

There were several other connecting routes used by tax evaders and teams would be constituted to keep a vigil on these hidden routes, he added.

Chowdhary said hike in VAT on bidis and cigarettes imposed by the state government last year to curtail the smoking habit appeared to have no deterrent effect on smokers and users of tobacco products, as there had been no decline in the collection of VAT from cigarette and tobacco products.

“There is need for more awakening about bad effects of tobacco on health and this matter needs to be dealt at social and community level,” he opined.

Referring to the entry tax collected at toll barriers, he said the barriers had been auctioned for three years instead of one year in the past and the contractors would pay 10 per cent more each year.

The total collection from all toll barriers in 2013-14 was Rs 88.87 crore, but the auction in 2014-15 fetched Rs 92.85 crore and there would be progressive increase of 10 per cent during the next two years.

Chowdhary said the department not only achieved the tax collection target of Rs 4,200 crore during the last financial year, but also exceeded it by Rs 300 crore and the target had been enhanced to Rs 5,316 crore for the current year. 

Shimla, July 23
Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma today inaugurated The Oak, a guest house built by the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) at a cost of Rs 71 lakh, at Bharari in Shimla.

Addressing the gathering, Sharma said the four-storeyed rest house, which has 11 rooms, was located in green surroundings and would become a source of income for the corporation.

He said the government was committed to provide basic amenities to residents and hence was developing natural sites to make these more attractive for tourists.

He along with others present on the occasion planted trees. Shimla Mayor Sanjay Chauhan and Deputy Mayor Tikender Singh Panwar among other officials were also present.

Bharmour, July 23
As many as 19 dumping sites have been identified for reclamation due to the construction of Chamera hydroelectric project, stage-III, of the NHPC, on the banks of the Ravi between Dharwala to Luna on the Chamba-Bharmour highway.

Of these, 14 have been submitted for reclaiming so far, whereas funds have been made available by the NHPC only for eight sites. Of these, many have been planted and reclaimed with various species of deodar, robinia, ban oak, toon, ritha and bio-engineering species such as yucca and agave during the last winter and this monsoon.

According to official information, a number of soil conservation structures, such as check walls, have been constructed in grid shape by the NHPC and the gaps have been filled up with soil. The remaining gaps are being planted with forestry species.

These slopes are rehabilitated by using a multiple approach of top storey of tall plants of deodar, poplar and secondary storey of endemic broad-leaved plants and ground floor of palatable grasses having excellent soil conservation properties. The reclamation of these muck-dumping sites has been monitored strictly by senior officers of the Forest Department.

The sites near Trilochan Mahadev and near Dharwala had been reclaimed in less than two years and have attained sufficient growth and green cover, revealed ARM Reddy, Chief Conservator of Forests.

“We have planted tall plants of deodar, robinia, ban oak, toon, ailanthus, fenced with four-strand barbed wire, supplemented by bio-fencing species. We are strictly monitoring these plantations by frequent removal of bushes and weeds, regular watering and adding farmyard manure, replacing the mortalities from time to time, thereby keeping watch and ward. That is how we have yielded 95 per cent survival and excellent results,” said Reddy.

Shimla, July 23
The Himachal Pradesh High Court (HC) has refused to interfere in the conviction awarded by the Additional Sessions Judge, Dharamsala, whereby he had awarded seven-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) to four accused involved in a case of culpable homicide.

According to the prosecution, on August 20, 2003, the accused, namely Gaurav Sood, Vikas Chauhan, Sanjiv Sharma, alias Sunny, and Sachin Pal, were ragging students outside the Degree College, Palampur. The aforesaid acts were noticed by Ajay Sharma and his companions Munish Walia and Amit Thakur.

When the trio raised objection, Gaurav and Sunny caught hold of Amit and the other accused stabbed him in the abdomen. Ajay and Munish rushed towards Amit to rescue him, but were beaten up.

Another accused, Sachin, who was carrying a khukri, stabbed Munish in the stomach. Ajay too was caught by Gaurav and Vikas and stabbed. Thereafter, Amit died due to injuries. However, Ajay and Munish were saved.

All accused were arrested and faced trial. On August 30, 2010, the Additional Sessions Judge-I, Kangra, at Dharamsala, had convicted the accused to seven years’ RI. A fine of Rs 25,000 each was also imposed on the accused for the commission of offence punishable under Section 304, Part-II, read with Section 34, IPC.

While dismissing the appeal filed by the accused, a Division Bench comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Sureshwar Thakur observed that “the trial court tenably attributed vicarious criminal liability to all the accused…”

It further observed that “hence, it tenably concluded that all four shared a joint and common intention, as such, the provision of Section 304-II read with Section 34, IPC, were attachable.”

The HC also dismissed the appeal of the state for enhancing the sentence awarded to the accused.

Chamba, July 23
The district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has urged the Deputy Commissioner to allot a special stall to create awareness about the protection of children during the Minjar fair beginning from July 27.

A deputation headed by one of its members, Rajeev Kaushal, today met the DC in this regard and requested to set up a helpline for them during the fair. It expressed its concern saying there was a grave danger of child labour during the fair as several cases of children going missing are reported.

The committee also sought to constitute a special task force or juvenile unit to cope up with child labour exploitation and other problems, Kaushal said. 

Una, July 23
Stones, gravel and sand being mined illegally were being used for channelisation work on the Swan river in Una district. The National Green Tribunal has imposed a ban on mining in rivers. Due to the ban, mining material is not available for carrying out the Swan channelisation work. But work is going on smoothly.

Sources here told The Tribune that the contractors were procuring illegally mined material from within and outside the state. Big stones that were used for making bundhs along the banks of the river and its tributaries in Una district were procured illegally.

The sources said big stones were not available on the riverbeds of Himachal. These were being procured by the contractors from Pathankot or Kiratpur Sahib. The contractors were procuring these stones from the mining cartels of Punjab.

However, they still need M-forms issued by the Mining Department for the state to bring the stones or other material into Himachal. The Department of Irrigation and Public Health that was executing the Swan channelisation project should also check the M-Forms of the contractors who were bringing mined material to the sites.

However, neither the Excise and Mining Department authorities nor the IPH Department was checking the forms.

Superintendent Engineer, IPH, who is in-charge of the project, NM Saini, when asked if the work was being hit due to ban on the mining, said there was no impact. About procuring M-forms from contractors, he said, “We are charging royalty from contractors who were bringing mined material to channelisation sites and depositing it with the state government. This way we are ensuring that there is no loss to the state exchequer.” When asked if he had the knowledge that the material being brought to the sites could result of illegal mining, Saini said he had no knowledge regarding it.

Officials justified the easing of norms regarding procuring illegally mined material for the Swan channelisation. The officials said the state government had sanctioned Rs 931 crore. Under the project, every year over Rs 100 crore had to be spent for channelising the tributaries of the Swan in Una district.

However, sources here also said only a few politically influential people were making hay of this ban. Only they could manage to bring and carry illegally mined material right under the nose of the authorities.

Dharamsala, July 23
The Gram Panchayat Nirman Sudhar Sangarsh Committee at Yol has opposed the imposition of toll tax by the Yol Cantonment Board on commercial vehicles passing through the area.

Committee president Gian Chand in a statement here today, said the Supreme Court had clearly ruled that cantonment boards and municipal councils cannot charge from commercial vehicles.

“We have supplied a copy of the Supreme Court’s order to the district administration and the state government. However, they have not taken any action to prevent Yol Cantonment Board from collecting tax from commercial vehicles passing through the area,” he said.

Gian Chand alleged that instead of taking any action to remove the toll barrier, the Yol Cantonment Board had ordered a fresh tender for the collection of toll for the next financial year.

The residents of Yol have been struggling to abolish the cantonment board. They alleged that the board was not providing any facility to adjoining villages. 

Solan, July 23
The Employees Union of Deputy Commissioner’s office yesterday condemned the state government’s decision to abolish several vacant posts of field and office staff of the Revenue Department across the state. They rued that despite multifold increase in the work there had been no staff enhancement and the new directions would overburden the existing staff.

A meeting, which took place under the chairmanship of union president JR Kashyap here today, termed it as an arbitrary decision taken without consulting their union. They also decided to lend support to their state-level union over the issue.

In its July 5 notification, the government had decided to do away with several vacant posts of naib tehsildar, superintendent, senior assistant, clerk, land reforms kanungo, patwari and several posts of Class IV employees from the offices of the SDM, tehsil and sub-tehsils throughout the state.

The union said it had not only lowered the dignity of the posts of the SDM and tehsildar, but the services of these segments of the revenue staff had also been grossly underestimated.

Even though major policy decisions of the government were implemented through such field-level officials and it had ensured the success of various major government schemes, little thought had been given to their functioning while abolishing these posts, the employees added.

Kashyap said though the union members had recently met the Chief Minister in this regard and he had assured them to look into this issue, they would visit him again at the state secretariat and take the up the matter. 

Kangra, July 23
Rain continued to lash the Kangra valley on the second consecutive day today making farmers happy. The sky was overcast since morning and showers were experienced almost the entire day.

Nearly 42 mm rain was recorded in Kangra town today throwing normal life out of gear. Banner, Manji and Manuni rivers were swollen and in spate.

KK Sharma, Director, Kangra airport, said: “Both flights of Spice Jet and Air India were cancelled due to bad weather as it has been raining since morning today.”

Dr KS Thakur, Director, Oil Seed Station HPKV, said: “Incessant rain is a boon for paddy, maize farmers in the valley. Earlier, a dry spell was a worrying factor for farmers dealing with paddy and maize crops.”

Kullu, July 23
Taking reference of an article on graft in Indian healthcare in a British Medical Journal, Abhishek Rai, president, Himalayan Environment Conservation Organisation, an NGO of Kullu, said he had sent an application to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) highlighting the unethical malpractices in the healthcare machinery.

Submitting the article titled “Corruption ruins the doctor-patient relationship in India” by an Australian medical practitioner Dr David Berger, who volunteered his services at a hospital in India, besides various other newspaper clippings, Abhishek has prayed to the Supreme Court to reform the malpractices in healthcare.

Quoting an editorial piece mentioning that medical practitioners in India made patients undergo unnecessary medical tests and prescribed costly medicines, Abhishek has expressed his concern and requested the Apex Court to take cognizance of the issue and regulate healthcare services to protect the interest and health of masses.

He alleged that capitalism had converted the doctor-patient relationship to a doctor-client relationship and the doctors in private medical institutes pushed to complete the pre-defined targets. He urged that the cost of tests in private institutes be regulated and time for running the laboratories in government hospitals be co-ordinated, so that people from far flung areas did not have to wait for the next day.

He further alleged that medical practitioners were offered lucrative gifts and commissions by medical representatives to prescribe their product.

Abhishek said he had approached the Himachal Pradesh High Court earlier, seeking uniformity in service rules and conditions in the Health Department. His appeal to regulate premature retirement of medical specialists had been sent to the Prinicipal Secretary, Health Department, by the High Court in August 2013, but so far the government had not taken initiative to curtail the malpractice, he alleged.

There was dearth of specialists and paramedics in most of the hospitals and masses had to spend exorbitant amounts in private hospitals. In the absence of specific policies carefully tended by specialists, ad-hocism took the root and led to abuse and misuse of powers, he claimed. 

Solan, July 23
With few facilities for the safe and scientific disposal of municipal solid waste in various semi-urban and rural habitations in Solan district, people here are a worried lot.

Reason: Pungent smell emanating from garbage strewn all over the roads, including National Highway-22, has become a cause of concern for them.

Not only this, the waste is callously dumped either in or around big dumpers or simply rolled down hillsides thereby leading to its unscientific disposal.

While municipal committees in urban areas such as Solan have some facilities to dispose waste, places such as Barog, Dharampur, Kandaghat, etc, have no such facility.

At Barog, people were dumping waste right on the road around a dumper. Though the Forest Department officials had shifted the dumper from a forest area to another site last year to foster some sense of cleanliness among residents, the situation has failed to change much.

At Dharampur, the panchayat has earmarked a site for dumping all municipal solid waste. With little technique to scientifically dispose of waste, passersby are exposed to pungent stench even though the panchayat has erected a tinned wall to keep away the stench.

The situation was equally pitiable in other rural habitations such as Kasauli and Garkhal, where there was neither a proper site to dispose waste nor facilities to dispose it scientifically.

Since panchayats have little know-how to make arrangements for the scientific disposal of such waste, the hillsides are becoming a source of pollution, stench and potential site of breeding disease.

The State Pollution Control Board has the mandate of ensuring scientific disposal of such waste, but it is yet to reach out to rural habitations due to scarce staff. Moreover, its role is confined merely to urban habitations.

Shimla, July 23
The involvement of Nepalese persons in two incidents of heinous crimes in the past week, in which five persons were murdered, is worrying people and apple orchardists, who bank heavily on Nepalese labourers for the maintenance of orchards and harvesting.

For decades, Nepalese have been engaged as labourers in orchards, farm activities, construction work, domestic help and for performing duties of security guards and were considered as “honest and loyal”, but the perception is gradually changing due to their involvement in crimes.

A Nepali, Amar Bahadur, employed as a servant by a family in the Chhajpur area of Jubbal in Shimla, mercilessly killed a woman and her son (his employers) on the intervening night of July 10 and 11. Three days later, a Nepalese killed his wife and two minor children in the Kharapathar area.

About two decades ago, former Himachal Advocate General Chhabil Dass and his wife were murdered in cold blood while asleep by their Nepalese domestic servant. A former Chief Secretary had engaged a Nepali as a domestic help, who had remained with the family for years. After retirement the official took the servant along to Assam. The servant murdered the Chief Secretary’s wife and decamped with cash and valuables.

Three Nepalese raped a foreigner in Kullu in June last year and were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. In another shameful act, a 25-year-old Nepali stripped his elderly parents before brutally murdering them in January 2012 at Kotkhai in Shimla district. He was sentenced to death by a court in August last year.

Most of the Nepalese escape to their native places after committing crime and are out of reach of the police as their extradition is a tedious and lengthy process.

Sanjay Kumar, Director General of Police (DGP), said most of the Nepalese who come to the state for menial works were registered. But in many cases both accused and the victim were Nepalese.

There is no separate record of Nepalese involved in criminal activities, but as per the Police Department sources, in the past few years, Nepalese were found involved in more than 400 cases of crimes like theft, murder and rape.

With apple harvesting in full swing, apple growers are weary of engaging Nepalese labourers.

“We cannot do without Nepalese labourers who have become an integral part of the apple economy, but such recurring incidents have shaken our faith and we have become apprehensive,” said Ravi Chauhan, an apple grower from Kiari village in the Kotkhai area of Shimla.

Nurpur, July 23
Timely rescue operation carried out jointly by the police of the Mamoon Cantonment and locals, all 26 labourers marooned in the flooded Chakki river near the Kandwal barrier on the Himachal Pradesh-Punjab border could be evacuated last evening. The labourers, engaged by a railway contractor, were repairing two damaged pillars of the railway bridge of the Pathankot-Jogindernagar railway line passing across the river.

According to information, the river was suddenly flooded and all labourers, along with their children, were marooned in the river. The neighbouring Mamoon Cantonment police station and Kandwal police chowki were informed immediately.

The police force, led by DSP, Pathankot City, Manoj Thakur, with the assistance of locals, started rescue operation immediately and evacuated all labourers. Two women and one child, who were washed away in the flood water while shifting to a safer place, were also rescued. All labourers could be evacuated by placing a temporary wooden stair on the dry riverbed on the old damaged Chakki Bridge on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway. 

Shimla, July 23
Critical patients at the 900-bed Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMC), Shimla, are virtually at God’s mercy as most of the arterial blood gas analysers (ABGA) remain unavailable.

The IGMC is yet to centralise the ABGAs in the Emergency, to make these available to the patients round the clock.

The crucial care and diagnosis services continue to be in disarray.

The ABGAs, diagnostic tool that monitor a patient’s blood gas, are not even available for the patients in trauma and shock, leave alone patients in the wards.

The ABGAs are only available in cardiology, cardio-thoracic, six-bed intensive care unit (ICU) and chest and pulmonary, but many of these are malfunctioning, revealed doctors. The ABGA facility is not available after 4 PM, even if a patient is in shock.

“Without the ABGAs we cannot monitor critical patients,” they added.

IGMC Principal Dr SS Kaushal said they were trying to centralise the ABGAs in the Emergency to strengthen the services. 

Kangra, July 23
To create awareness among young mothers about the right and healthy upkeep of their newly-born babies, a “smarter mom and healthy baby” show was organised by Fortis Hospital, Kangra, at a hotel here today.

Col HS Bhagat (retd), Director, Fortis Hospital, Kangra, said nearly 100 mothers who had given birth to babies at Fortis Hospital during the last two years gathered at the show as guests. 

Kangra, July 23
The Himachal Pradesh Honorary Commissioned Officers Welfare Association (HPHCOWA) yesterday demanded that the circuit bench of Armed Forces Tribunal, situated at Chandigarh, visit Hamirpur as the strength of ex-servicemen in Kangra, Mandi, Bilaspur and Hamirpur districts was far higher than the rest of the state.

Capt Jagdish Chand Verma (retd), president, HPHCOWA, said Hamirpur was located at the centre of Mandi, Bilaspur and Kangra districts and a majority of former defence personnel of the state would get benefitted by the visit of the circuit bench.

Captain Verma demanded that the circuit bench should also visit Hamirpur. He added that there was no CSD depot in Himachal Pradesh.

All the items in the canteens were collected from Ambala, Jalandhar and Pathankot by road.

Other than the entry taxes and carriage expenditures levied by all states, including Himachal, three per cent VAT was also added on the sale of grocery and liquor sold through CSD, putting the consumers in a dock.

Hamirpur, July 23
Students of Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV), Nadaun, have brought laurels to their school by winning positions in the Olympiad examination-2014 conducted by the Science Olympiad Foundation.

Tanuj Chaoudhary bagged the third position in the state in the International English Olympiad and also won a cash prize of ~1,000. Abhinav Shah and Nishant Prashar got the seventh position in the International Cyber Olympiad examination and a cash prize of ~1,000 each.

In Mathematical Olympiad, Abhinav Shah, Nishant Prashar, Manan Saroch, Apurva Padiyal and Kshitij Sharma have won gold medals. — TNS