Himachal may seal border with J&K
DHARAMSALA, Sept 29 — The Himachal government may consider sealing the Chamba border with Jammu and Kashmir to curb the infiltration of militants, if the need arises.

2 killed in jeep-truck collision
MANDI, Sept 29 — Two persons were killed and three others seriously injured when the Gypsy in which they were travelling towards Manali had a head-on collision with a Tata-407 truck last night near Thalout, about 33 km from here.

PWD engineers for design directorate
SHIMLA, Sept 29 — The state Public Works Department Graduate Engineers Association has urged the government to set-up an independent planning and design directorate for monitoring material management, research and development and quality control in the execution of works.

Madhukar cremated
MANDI, Sept 29 — The body of Mr Madhukar, HVC general secretary and former NGO chief, which was located at Dehra Gopipur and brought here, was cremated on the bank of the Beas today.

Plan to rehabilitate 250 families
DALHOUSIE, Sept 29 — About 250 families whose land and houses had been submerged owing to the 540-mega watt Chamera hydro electric project on the Ravi Chamba district will be rehabilitated soon.

Declaration of results sought
SOLAN, Sept 29 — The Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Students Association has demanded immediate declaration of results of the written test conducted by the state Public Service Commission for the post of Horticulture Development Officer on June 25 last.

Wheels get wrenched off moving bus

US Congress backs Tibetans
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Sept 29 — In a significant development, the US Congress passed a resolution in support of the recommendations of the International Commission of Jurists and on the US policy on Tibet.

The latest support from the US Congress is in line with the series of earlier stands taken by it for the Tibetan cause. Congress expressed concern over the findings of the December 1997 report of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) on Tibet. This is the fourth report of the ICJ on Tibet, with the earlier ones being in the years 1959, 1960 and 1964.

Congress expressed concern over the ICJ finding that China had labelled the Tibetan Buddhist culture, which has flourished in Tibet since the seventh century, as a "foreign culture", in order to facilitate indoctrination of Tibetans in Chinese socialist ideology. It also fully extended support to the recommendation in the ICJ report, calling on the Chinese Government to enter into a discussion with the Dalai Lama and ensure respect for the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people. It also called on the UN General Assembly to resume its debate on the question of Tibet, based on its resolutions of 1959, 1961 and 1965. While commending the appointment of a Special Coordinator on Tibet, it said that US Government's policies, programmes and projects concerning Tibet should be coordinated in consultation with Congress.

It called on China to release from detention the 9-year-old boy, Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, so that he could pursue his studies as per the tradition. It supported the ICJ observation that repression had steadily increased since 1994, resulting in denunciation campaign of the Dalai Lama, increase in political arrests, suppression of peaceful demonstrations and accelerated movement of Chinese to Tibet. It urged China to end those practices which threaten to erode the distinct cultural, religious and national identity of the Tibetan people.

While welcoming the US Congress's latest resolution on Tibet, the spokesperson for the Tibetan Government, Thupten Samphell, said that the Tibetans were hopeful that this kind of support would convince the Chinese leadership to enter into serious negotiations with the Dalai Lama. "This kind of parliamentary or Congressional support will definitely help resolve the Tibetan cause as it is supportive of the ICJ report", he stated.

Elaborating the earlier support extended by the US Congress, Mr Samphell said that it was a resolution passed by the US Congress which stated that Tibet was an occupied territory and the government headed by the Dalai Lama was the legitimate one. It was solely due to Congressional legislation that the Tibetan Voice of America and Radio Free Asia were started by the administration.

Meanwhile, five members of the Tibet Support Group chained themselves before the French Socialist Party, headquartered in Paris, to show to the people how Tibetans were living and what their Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, would not be able to see during his visit to Tibet. The Secretary-in-Chief of the Socialist Party, Mr Francois Hollande, reaffirmed his party's support to the Chinese democrats and to the people of Tibet. He expressed his support to a peaceful negotiation to the Tibetan issue.

Himachal may seal border with J&K
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Sept 29 — The Himachal government may consider sealing the Chamba border with Jammu and Kashmir to curb the infiltration of militants, if the need arises.

This was stated by the Director-General of Police, Mr Basant Singh Thakur, at the passing-out parade at the Police Training College, Daroh, near Palampur, today. He disclosed that as many as 150 police personnel at the college, would be imparted six weeks special guerrilla training course, next month. Apart from this, 300 new recruits would also receive such training after they had undergone their six-month normal training course.

Mr Thakur said that the special guerrilla training had been envisaged to equip the police personnel with the latest techniques and to meet the threat being posed by militants.

The police chief also announced the opening of two new police stations in Kangra district. He said there was the need to open new police stations as against a population of 12 lakh there were only 12 police stations in the district.

As many as 162 trainees passed out after receiving six-month training at the police training college.

Shubhashis Dey gets Home Minister Award
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 29 — Mr Shubhashis Dey, Government Examiner of Questioned Documents, Bureau of Police Research and Development, has been conferred the Home Minister Award for the year 1998 for his outstanding work in the development of first quality manual for accreditation or documents examination laboratories in India. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 25,000.

A leading forensic document scientist, Mr Dey has examined lakhs of crime exhibits of national and international ramification during his long career. He has also been imparting training to various document examiners and has devised and conducted several training course modules for public sector undertakings like power, coal, steel and banking industries.

Currently heading the Laboratory of Government Examiner of Questioned Document, Mr Dey was the convener of an international conference on forensic documents held at Bangalore in January 1998. He was awarded the President's police medal for meritorious service in forensic science in 1996 and elected a Fellow of Indian Academy of Forensic Science in 1997, the first in the field of forensic documents.

Three acquitted in bride-burning case
From Our Correspondent

SUNDERNAGAR, Sept 29 — The Additional Sessions Judge, Mandi, Mr Samsher Singh, on Saturday acquitted Dalip Singh, husband of Pinki, Mina Devi and Gulabo Devi, all residents of Bada Thana (Jogindernagar), in a bride-burning case.

The case of the prosecution was that the accused persons had been harassing Pinki, the deceased, and demanding more dowry. On June 23, 1994, the accused persons allegedly set Pinki on fire. Pinki died on July 17, 1994, at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, as she suffered more than 60 per cent burns.

The prosecution had examined 17 witnesses, including three doctors, but was unable to prove the case. The court accepted the plea of the defence counsel that the dying declaration of Pinki was not trustworthy as it was made under the influence of her parents.

The court also accepted the plea of the defence counsel that the deceased was lighting a matchstick in her kitchen when she got burnt. The court acquitted all accused of the charge of murder.

2 killed in jeep-truck collision
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, Sept 29 — Two persons were killed and three others seriously injured when the Gypsy in which they were travelling towards Manali had a head-on collision with a Tata-407 truck last night near Thalout, about 33 km from here.

Heads and faces of the two youths who died on the spot had been mutilated and the jeep totally smashed.

The condition of two of the injured persons is stated to be precarious. Mr Ravinder Singh Jamwal, DSP, Mandi, who was going to Kulu on Chief Minister's duty was the first person to reach on the scene of the accident. He had the injured persons removed to the district hospital in Kulu.

Those killed have been identified as Romesh Chand (25), son of Rikhi Ram, and Anil Kumar (22), son of Chuni Lal, both from Manali.

The injured are Shobha Ram, Hari Dass and Ashwani Kumar. Hari Dass and Ashwani Kumar are unconscious in hospital.

The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, who was on way to Hamirpur from Kulu, stopped at the site of accident and expressed sympathy with the victims.

Only last Friday a private bus carrying 16 passengers had fallen into the Beas, near here. Only the conductor had survived.

PWD engineers for design directorate
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 29 — The state Public Works Department Graduate Engineers Association has urged the government to set-up an independent planning and design directorate for monitoring material management, research and development and quality control in the execution of works.

With a number of projects funded by the World Bank, Nabard and other central agencies being executed in the state, there was an urgent need to strengthen the set-up to effectively monitor their implementation, it said.

It also called for the recruitment of better qualified technical staff for improving the quality of work, besides updating the standards manuals and guidelines. The state technical material testing laboratory also required to be strengthened by creating posts of research engineers or by upgrading the existing posts of junior engineers at circle levels.

Madhukar cremated
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, Sept 29 — The body of Mr Madhukar, HVC general secretary and former NGO chief, which was located at Dehra Gopipur and brought here, was cremated on the bank of the Beas today.

The town remained closed in the forenoon as a mark of respect to the deceased. A large number of people, including former Vidhan Sabha Speaker Thakur Kaul Singh attended the funeral.

He had boarded the fateful bus which fell into the Beas on Friday, near here, in which 16 persons were travelling. The conductor was the lone survivor. Only three dead bodies have been found so far.

Plan to rehabilitate 250 families
From Our Correspondent

DALHOUSIE, Sept 29 — About 250 families whose land and houses had been submerged owing to the 540-mega watt Chamera hydro electric project on the Ravi Chamba district will be rehabilitated soon.

This decision was taken at a high-level meeting of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and the district authorities here.

It was also decided that the Chamba-Pathankot highway up to Bathri would be widened as per the national highway specifications.

The General Manager of the project said the NHPC had allocated Rs 10 crore to conserve hills.

Declaration of results sought
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, Sept 29 — The Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Students Association (HPHSA) has demanded immediate declaration of results of the written test conducted by the state Public Service Commission for the post of Horticulture Development Officer on June 25 last.

Association president Anil Verma told newspersons here today that the tests were conducted almost six months after the notification inviting applications for the posts was published. Those who appeared for the written test had been anxiously awaiting the outcome of the tests for almost three months.

He urged the state government to immediately implement the decision to recruit horticulture graduates on a bathwise basis "as was decided at the very first Cabinet meeting of the present government".

A demand for starting vocational courses in horticulture in the state's senior secondary schools was also raised by the association.

Wheels get wrenched off moving bus
From Our Correspondent

NANGAL, Sept 29 — Imagine you are travelling in a bus and suddenly its rear wheels are not there!

This is what happened with a Himachal transport bus (HP-28-0795) on the Nangal-Una road today. Its rear wheels along with the axle got wrenched off as a result of the impact of a jump it sustained due to the deep pits on the road.

Though none of the passengers sustained any injury, traffic on the road got blocked and it had to be diverted through a village.

The accident illustrates the pathetic condition of the patch of road on the Punjab-Himachal border which has been totally neglected by both the governments.