Irate villagers stop train
NURPUR, May 23 — Villagers of Kandwal, Baranda, Rit and Dankwa gram panchayats in Nurpur subdivision today staged an hour-long dharna on a railway track at Kandwal near here.

‘Trigart 1999’ inaugurated in Kangra
KANGRA, May 23 — "Trigart 1999" was declared open at the Kangra Fort by the Agriculture Minister, Mr Vidiya Sagar, last evening.

Plus two exam results declared
DHARAMSALA, May 23 — Deepika Gupta of Government Girls School, Nahan, has stood first in the plus two examination (Arts) conducted by the Board of School Education in March.Deepika Gupta secured 347 marks. Anil Kumar of Senior Secondary School, Balakrupi (Kangra), stood second by securing 315 marks and Surity Bhagra third (314) marks.

• Briton’s bail plea refused
• 4 forest employees suspended
  

BJP, HVC to ‘contest jointly’
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, May 23 — Mr Suresh Chandel, president of the state unit of the BJP, said here today that the BJP and the HVC would contest the Lok Sabha poll jointly.

Addressing a Press conference, he said the two parties would thrash out the issue of seat sharing. The two parties had perfect understanding and there was no cause for worry.

Replying to a question, he said the HVC had the right to claim a share in the seats but ultimately the issue would be decided by the leaders of the two parties. Even during the Baijnath byelection, the HVC had staked its claim, but an understanding was reached later and the BJP contested the seat with the support of the alliance partner.

He said the party had not finalised its candidate for the Shimla Lok Sabha seat and a committee had been constituted for the purpose.

Mr Chandel said there was "resentment" among people against the Congress which conspired to topple the Vajpayee government and it would be routed in the poll. The issue whether persons of foreign origin should be allowed to hold high offices would be a major poll issue. While the BJP had been raising the issue for a long time, some Congress leaders had also felt the pulse of the people and openly opposed Ms Sonia Gandhi's candidature for prime ministership.

Besides, the BJP would seek votes on the performance of its governments at the Centre and in the state.

It had several important achievements like the Pokhran nuclear blast, the Agni missile and the bus to Lahore which enhanced the country's prestige.

Besides, the allocation of 58.60 per cent of the budget for the rural sector and the starting of numerous new projects would also come in handy for the party in the elections. The grant of special assistance by the Centre to Himachal Pradesh and the starting of work on major Railway and hydel projects would also help. The success in the settlement of inter-state issues would also be reflected in the election.

Rival NGO body challenges claim
From Our Correspondent

BILASPUR, May 23 — The Himachal Pradesh Non-Gazetted Employees Federation led by Ram Singh has challenged claim of rival NGO faction led by Ganga Singh Thakur that the government had accepted the demands of the employees at a meeting of the joint consultative committee with the Ganga Singh faction at Shimla earlier last week.

Addressing mediapersons here today state federation president Ram Singh and 10 other leaders said the claim of Ganga Singh was "ridiculous" and said despite the government invitation to this "minority faction", these leaders had failed to get even a single demand accepted.

Mr Ram Singh said the much-publicised increase of Rs 50 in the hill compensatory allowance was nothing but an eyewash when it was known that NGO's federation had been demanding an increase of at least Rs 500 in the lower areas and Rs 1500 in the tribal and difficult areas of the state. All these leaders said by accepting this paltry increase of Rs 50 the faction had only betrayed more than over two lakh employees of the state.

These leaders said the release of dearness allowance due from January, 1999 at 10 per cent of the basic pay from June 1, 1999, was not any achievement as the government was constitutionally bound to release dearness allowance instalments as soon as these ware announced by the Central Government.

Mr Ram Singh said the Supreme Court and the High Court had already ordered the regularisation of the services of the work-charged employees and the government had befooled Mr Ganga Singh by saying that the work would be done in a "phased manner".

These leaders criticised Mr Ganga Singh and other leaders of the faction claiming that they were the "real federation" as the federation led by Mr Ganga Singh was nothing but "a splinter group" of the federation led by Mr Gopal Dass Verma.

Mr Ram Singh demanded that the government must release bonus on the Punjab pattern and also house rent allowance both to husband and wife and increased health allowance and washing allowance to class IV employees.

Mentally sick uncared for
From Bijender Sharma

JWALAMUKHI: The state Human Right Commission has expressed concern over the plight of abandoned and mentally ill persons and directed the police to locate all such persons. But many such persons continue to live uncared in this town.

In Indira Colony alone three such persons live in a crumbling structure lives a deranged person in tattered clothes. At times he can be seen lifting and eating filth. The structure in which he lives is rickety. "We give him food and clothes, but he tears them off, "says his neighbour.

Ramaia lives near the local bus stand. He is sought after by lottery buyers, particularly truckers for they believe that the digits pointed out by him invariably get prizes. A dhaba owner claims to have seen him around for the past 11 years. He says he has come from Kerala. "Ramaia has never asked for alms ", says the dhaba owner, who regularly gives food and tea to him.

In front of Hotel Jawalaji quietly roams a naked person. "He burns his clothes. He falls ill, but fails to speak about his problem, says Parkash Chand, a shopkeeper who provides him meals and clothes. Parkash also tried to give him a bath and medicines, but gave up due to his hostile attitude.

Balo can been seen at the local bus stand crying and running helter-shelter. Bus operators use him as a cleaner or for calling out bus destinations. Many persons have fun at his expense.

Ram is dumb. He can be seen moving about on the Mandir road. "The worst sufferers are deranged who are sexually assaulted" says Vipan, who has adopted a mentally sick woman. Rani in her 50s can be seen moving her wheel chair at the Nadaun road. She lost both legs in an accident.

There is a "fruit" seller who can give a political speech at the drop of a hat. Nath Sadhu speaks Haryanvi sings bhajans. Nand Lal is a jogging freak. Surdas begs in front of the Jwalamukhi temple. Bakshi Ram works as a labourer, but he is not paid for. Every currency note is a hundred rupee note, he thinks.

Silk Route takes local path
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, May 23 — It was not the smash hit "Dooba Dooba Rehta Hoon" but a medley of 'nattis' (Himachali folk songs) which set the crowd dancing as Mohit Chauhan, lead singer of the Silk Route sang his heart out at the maiden concert in his home state here last night.

It was not the run-of-the-mill pop stuff. It was soft and sombre, which slowly sinks into the heart and stays there. The music was refreshingly original — blend of off beat rhythms. Mohit sang Hindi, English and Pahari songs with equal ease while playing the guitar and the mouth-organ.

The show, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries in collaboration with the State Tourism Department as part of its annual Shimla Consumer Fair, began with the popular song "Door Hain Koi Haseen", a relatively fast paced number.

It was followed up by the melodies "Boondein", which along with the 'Dooba Dooba', topped the popularity charts of various music channels. Next came "Hamsafar", and "Boondein".

It was, however, the Pahari song "Shimla di Soni Sadakan" and "nattis" which made the crowd sway. Mohit also sang lucky Ali numbers " O Sanam" and "Pyaar ka Musafir".

The show peaked with "Dooba Dooba".

Kem Trivedi excellence was on the key board and the recorder (16th century European flute) Kenny on the drums.

Irate villagers stop train
From Our Correspondent

NURPUR, May 23 — Villagers of Kandwal, Baranda, Rit and Dankwa gram panchayats in Nurpur subdivision today staged an hour-long dharna on a railway track at Kandwal near here.

They stopped the Pathankot-Jogindernagar train PBJ-3, causing a lot of inconvenience to the passengers.

The Villagers Action Committee formed by the villagers claimed that a railway crossing had been approved by the railway authorities about two months back. The General Manager, Northern Railway, Ferozepore, even awarded the tender and the construction was to start soon.

But the site of the crossing was allegedly shifted to Jandwal near Pathankot in Punjab for reasons unknown. The construction material was also shifted. The villagers approached the General Manager who demed any proposal regarding the shifting of the crossing.

The action committee today submitted an ultimatum to the railway authorities and warned to stop all Kangra-bound trains if the demand was not met.

‘Trigart 1999’ inaugurated in Kangra
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, May 23 — "Trigart 1999" was declared open at the Kangra Fort by the Agriculture Minister, Mr Vidiya Sagar, last evening.

The fort, which was neglected for nearly a century, was illuminated. The lights have been installed at a cost of Rs 21 lakh by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation.

The minister gave a call to the people of the state to start a campaign to promote tourism. He said Rs 5 crore tourism projects were in the hand in Kangra district. A sum of Rs 83.2 crore had been earmarked for the development of the tourism infrastructure in the state and heritage tourism would be given priority.

An exhibition of antiques, recovered articles and other items was also declared open by Mr Vidiya Sagar.

The Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, Mr B.K. Agrawal, said under "Trigart 99" cultural programmes would be held in the fort on Tuesdays and Saturdays till June 22 to attract tourists.

Plus two exam results declared
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, May 23 — Deepika Gupta of Government Girls School, Nahan, has stood first in the plus two examination (Arts) conducted by the Board of School Education in March.Deepika Gupta secured 347 marks. Anil Kumar of Senior Secondary School, Balakrupi (Kangra), stood second by securing 315 marks and Surity Bhagra third (314) marks.

The pass percentage in the Arts and Commerce group was 28.05. Out of a total of 76,850 students who appeared in the examination as regular and private candidates, 20.089 were declared pass while 16,192 were placed in the compartment category. The pass percentage for regular students in the Arts and Commerce group was 43.99.

The pass percentage in the plus two vocational courses was 76. Out of 846 students who appeared, 644 were declared pass while 70 were placed in the compartment category.

In the medical and non-medical group, Ruchi Gupta of St Bede’s College stood first by securing 370 marks. Iqbal Singh of DAV School stood second by securing 366 marks while Abhay Sukumaran of Lalpani School stood third with 355 marks.

Briton’s bail plea refused
From Our Correspondent

SUNDERNAGAR, May 23 — The Sessions Judge, Mandi Division, Mr Kuldeep Chand Sood, has rejected the bail application of a British national, Mr Mark Thomas, who was arrested by the Sundernagar police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The applicant was arrested by the local police on April 12, 1999, at Lalit Chowk here and 300 gm of Charas was found in his possession.

4 forest employees suspended
From Our Correspondent

NURPUR, May 23 — Four forest employees were suspended yesterday for large scale illicit felling of trees in Gangath and Indpur Forest Blocks. According to the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Nurpur, a number of public complaints about illicit felling of trees in the forest as well private land in Gangath and Indora blocks had been received. A preliminary inquiry led to the suspension of Deputy Rangers and Forest Guards of Gangath and Indpur blocks.

The Assistant Conservator of Forests, Nurpur, had been entrusted with the task of holding an in-depth probe.