Scuffle mars liquor shops' auction
DHARAMSALA, March 9 — Liquor shops in Kangra districts were auctioned here today amidst allegation of irregularities and political favouritism.

Ban on Sena, RSS sought
SHIMLA, March 9 — Mr Jagdish Chander, secretary of the Indian Youth Congress, has demanded a ban on the Shiv Sena, the RSS, the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad which, he alleged, were spreading communal tension in the country.

Nogli Powerhouse recommissioned
SHIMLA, March 9 — The Nogli powerhouse in Shimla district which suffered intensive damage due to flash floods in the Nogli khud has been recommissioned.

Hola Mohalla fair concludes
NAHAN, March 9 — The seven-day long Hola Mohalla Fair concluded yesterday at Paonta Sahib peacefully. Over 1 lakh people from various parts of the country and abroad visited the fair.

Scuffle mars liquor shops' auction
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, March 9 — Liquor shops in Kangra districts were auctioned here today amidst allegation of irregularities and political favouritism.

There was complete chaos at the auction centre as a number of excise contractors who had deposited the bid amount with the Excise Department were not allowed to enter the hall. There was a scuffle inside the hall following which the police pushed out some persons accompanying the contractors. Those contractors who were not allowed to enter the auction hall alleged that all this was done by the authorities to favour some other contractors.

These contractors have demanded the cancellation of the auction held today for 1999-2000 and warned that if this is not done, they will move court.

They raised slogans against the organisers of the auction.

There was a big controversy over the auction of the Damtal liquor shop, for which the government allegedly had to suffer a loss of Rs 25 lakh. A bid of Rs 2.86 crore offered by a party from Jammu was rejected, while an offer of Rs 2.62 crore from another contractor was accepted. The auction was presided by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr B.K. Aggarwal, in the presence of Excise Department officials.

The Deputy Commissioner claimed that there had been no political interference whatsoever and the auction had been held in a fair manner. He said the persons who were sent out had tried to gate crash. There had been no lathicharge, he further claimed. Regarding the loss of Rs 25 lakh due to acceptance of a lower bid, he said that the higher bid of Rs 2.86 crore had been rejected on the ground of speculative bidding.

Ban on Sena, RSS sought
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, March 9 — Mr Jagdish Chander, secretary of the Indian Youth Congress, has demanded a ban on the Shiv Sena, the RSS, the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad which, he alleged, were spreading communal tension in the country.

Mr Jagdish Chander, who had come to address the first meeting of the executive of the Youth Congress here yesterday, was taking to newsmen.

He demanded that the Shiv Sena supremo, Mr Bal Thackeray, should be arrested under the TADA. He alleged that the BJP government was patronising Mr Thackeray although he has been spreading communal hatred.

Mr LK Advani had lowered the prestige of the office of Home Ministry by begging peace from him before the visit of the Pakistani cricket team to India. The Home Minister should not have flown to Mumbai to persuade Mr Thackeray to allow the cricket match to be played between the two countries.

The Youth Congress will launch an awareness drive at the block level against the BJP government of Mr PK Dhumal which has taken many 'anti-people' decisions, including the hike in power tariff.

It will organise a three-day orientation camp for office-bearers of northern states at Chandigarh from March 29.

Congress leaders, Mr Pranab Mukherji, Mr Madhav Rao Scindia, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad and Dr Manmohan Singh will address the participants of the camp.

Nogli Powerhouse recommissioned
Tribune News service

SHIMLA, March 9 — The Nogli powerhouse in Shimla district which suffered intensive damage due to flash floods in the Nogli khud has been recommissioned. The job of recommissioning the powerhouse has been done on a war footing by the HPSEB engineers and staff.

The Nogli area experienced flash floods due to a cloudburst in its catchment area on August 11, 1997. This had caused extensive damage to the powerhouse. Apart from damage to electro-mechanical equipment in the powerhouse, a lot of damage was also caused to the structures, including the intake and water conductor system.

Immediately after the incident, restoration work was taken in hand but while work was in progress heavy flood occurred again in June 1998, damaging most of the ongoing work. In spite of all odds the work of recommissioning the powerhouse has been completed in two months much before the scheduled date of commissioning.

Hola Mohalla fair concludes
From A Correspondent

NAHAN, March 9 — The seven-day long Hola Mohalla Fair concluded yesterday at Paonta Sahib peacefully. Over 1 lakh people from various parts of the country and abroad visited the fair.

Paonta Sahib is one of the four holy Sikh Shrines where this fair is organised. All activities organised during this fair were dedicated to the tercentenary celebrations of Khalsa Panth. Main attraction of the fair was the golden "Palki" which has been installed in the main prayer hall. According to Kulwant Singh Chaudhary, manager, Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, the Palki made from more than 8 kg of gold was donated on Basant Panchmi by a person who did not want to disclose his identity. During the fair a colourful procession was taken out and religious conference was organised. A night-long kavi darbar was also organised in which 29 poets from all over India participated. Shree Nishan Sahib was hoisted and 92 persons were baptised.

This historic hola fair was started by Shri Guru Gobind Singh about three hundred years ago after wining the Bhagani war. All traditions of the occasion started by the Guru, including turban tieing contests, were performed.