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| Thursday, February 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Drought threat in Shimla villages Cong factions battle for supremacy Congress charges
baseless: Kapoor Winter move: testing time for CM Dhumal blames Cong for all ills |
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HPSEB union flays management’s move Lecturer booked for fraud Rampur cries for development HP scheme to check tax evasion Second phase of census operation to begin on Feb 9 BJP ex-servicemen
cells’ conveners Computerised rail booking ABVP protest
against assault NCP office-bearers’
list released Himachal gets its first Internet service Ski lovers a disappointed lot Scribes boycott
press conference Lovers commit suicide Chemists’ names
on suicide note Offering tongue to Goddess
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Drought threat in Shimla villages SHIMLA, Feb 7 — With no snow or even rain in almost all parts of the state, the threat of drought is looming large over Shimla district. The upper areas of the district have already started experiencing water shortage problems. Villages like Tikkar, Bhrada. Rahighat, Rounkali, Padain which come under Theog tehsil of Shimla district are facing the drought-like situation. All taps and natural sources of water in these villages have dried up forcing people to travel upto 5 km in search of water. In parts of the tehsil where villages are accessible by roads like Rounkali village, the state corporation buses have become water carriers. “The situation is worsing day by day. Water shortage can turn out to be a major problem. We can even face a major drought here in summer if the weather remains the same”, said Bimla Sharma, Mahila Mandal pardhan of Upper Blowa village. “There is also problem with the lift water which is supplied by the district administration. Ten out of nine times we don’t get our quota as the supply of water ends in by the time it reaches our village” she said. |
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All-party
meeting on drought
threat sought CHAMBA, Feb 7 — Mr Sagar Chand Nayyar, a former minister and a senior Congress leader, has asked the Himachal Pradesh Government to convene an all-party meeting to draw a strategy to deal with the drought-like situation in the state as suggested by Mr Sat Mahajan, a former HPCC chief. In a statement released here today, Mr Nayyar said that for the past four months there had virtually been no rain and snowfall which was unprecedented and if there was no rain for another two weeks, the situation would become grim. Mr Nayyar said the generation of hydro-power and irrigation were directly linked to the weather conditions. The level of water in the rivers was receding at an alarming speed due to scanty snowfall in the catchment areas, he said. The Congress leader said most of the areas in Himachal Pradesh were rain-fed and the crops had started withering. With bleak prospects of rain in the near feature, the situation was likely to aggravate in weeks to come. |
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12
water storage tanks for Shimla SHIMLA, Feb 7 — In a major step to
improve drinking water supply to Shimla town, the government has
decided to construct 12 water storage tanks in various locality at a
cost of Rs 16.72 crore. Presiding over a meeting to deal with the problem of water scarcity here yesterday, Mr Narinder Bragta, Horticulture Minister, said 102 km of pipeline would be laid for the purpose. He said for a long-term solution to the problem, a Rs 75 core scheme had been planned under which water would be lifted from the Giri Ganga river to Phagu and supplied to the town. Another scheme to augment supply from the Nauti Khad would be completed by 2002 at a cost of Rs 9.73 crore. Sewerage treatment plants were also being set up at Barmu, Golcha, Malyana, Dhalli, Lalpani and Rajhyana areas under the municipal corporation. Mr
Bragta exhorted various departments to maintain proper coordination
and ensure timely completion of various water supply augmentation
works. |
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Cong factions battle for supremacy SHIMLA, Feb 7 — The warring Congress factions headed by Mrs Vidya Stokes, pradesh Congress committee (PCC) chief, and Mr Virbhadra Singh, Congress Legislative Party leader, have taken the battle for supremacy in the party to the people by organising rallies to demonstrate their strength. The lead was taken by the Stokes faction, which held “kisan” rallies at Theog and Una last month. Having captured the coveted post of the PCC chief, Mrs Stokes wanted to shed the general impression that she was the leader of the classes and demonstrate her capability to carry on with the masses. She made it a point to actively associate senior party leaders like Mr Ram Lal, Mr J.B.L. Khachi and Mr K.D. Sultanpur to send across the message that every leader would be given due recognition in the organisational set up. However, the indomitable Mr Virbhadra Singh, despite his marginalisation by the high command during the organisational poll, responded to the challenge instantly by holding a “Vijay rally” at Kennaid in Mandi. Ostensibly, the event was organised to celebrate the “upholding” of Mr Tek Chand’s election by the apex court, but in reality it was a “show of strength” by Mr Virbhadra Singh as evident from the presence of 14 party legislators. More importantly, the rally was held even after a stern warning from Mr Moti Lal Vohra, General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee, and in charge of the state affairs, that a rally organised by any individual leader without the approval of the district party unit of the PCC would be deemed as a serious breach of party discipline and attract punitive action. Mrs Stokes, however, has tried to dismiss the Kennaid rally as a private affair. Having piped the rival faction to the post for the PCC chief’s post, she does not want to precipitate matters, at least for now. Political observers are viewing the rally as a ploy by Mr Virbhadra Singh to pressurise the high command to get his loyalists included in the state executive. Mrs Stokes has already submitted the list to the high command for approval. Mr Virbhadra Singh has on the other hand given his own list of supporters for inclusion in the state executive. The first round of rallies, has been completed and leaders of both factions are now camping in Delhi to apprise the high command of their view point of the rally. As the high command is likely to approve the state executive any time, they are making last ditch efforts to get the lion’s share. Mrs Stokes, when contacted, maintained that she was in the AICC headquarters in connection with the relief operations being organised by the party for the earthquake victims of Gujarat. No one had time for such trivial party matters. Besides Mr Virbhadra Singh, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, former Chief Minister, Mr K.D. Sultanpuri, former PCC chief had also gone to Delhi. While the prime concern seemed to be the constitution of the new state executive, the situation arising due to the holding of parallel rallies by rival groups would also be discussed. |
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Congress charges
baseless: Kapoor DHARAMSALA, Feb 7 — Refuting Congress allegations, the Transport Minister, Mr Kishan Kapoor, today said that work on a majority of the announcements made by the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal had been completed, while on some it was nearing completion. Talking to mediapersons here today Mr Kapoor, said out of the 92 announcements made by Mr Dhumal since 1998, work on 47 had been completed. Apart from this work on 23 projects was nearing completion. While it was in progress on 22 projects. “The figures clearly reflect that the Congress allegations are nothing more than a false propaganda to mislead the people of Kangra”, he added. Mr Kapoor, said some of the foundation stones laid during the Congress regime were still awaiting beginning of work. He disclosed that the Chief Minister would begin his winter sojourn on Feb 10 and the first phase would be till February 16. Mr Kapoor, said the outcome of the zila parishad elections, had shown that people had voted for a good performance of the government and the policies being pursued by it. He added that despite the Congress making tall claims the BJP had registered a resounding victory at Kangra Zila Parshad. Mr Kapoor, informed that elaborate arrangements were being made to tackle the situation arising out of severe drought. He said that in Dharamsala town itself 10 new hand pumps were set up, four tubewells would be sunk in Dharmasala and three water tankers would be pressed into service. |
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Winter move: testing time for CM DHARAMSALA, Feb 7 — It will require a lot of political acumen on the part of the Chief Minister to strike a balance between his own men and the Shanta loyalists, who had revolted against the government during his winter sojourn to Kangra, the home turf of the Union Minister. The much awaited winter move of the government holds immense political significance as it is not only the Congress, but even his own partymen from the lower areas, who have accused the Chief Minister of discriminating with the Kangra region. With five of the six legislators, who had recently revolted against the government, hailing from Kangra, it will be like walking on a tight rope for the Chief Minister. With a cash-strapped government it will be difficult for the Chief Minister to fulfil promises to woo the people of Kangra, who have always played a dominant role in the formation of the government, be it for the BJP or the Congress. On the other hand Congress leaders have been accusing the government of slowing down the pace of development, as the earlier announcements made by the Chief Minister are yet to be completed. The Congress has been making a desperate bid to cash in on the rivalry between Mr Dhumal and Mr Shanta Kumar. In fact, they have been harping that it is the rivalry between the two leaders, because of which, Kangra is being made to pay a heavy price. Mr Dhumal will have to counter this criticism, by doing some extra favours for Kangra. Interestingly, a die-hard Shanta loyalist, Mr Kishan Kapoor, has been entrusted the duty of chalking out the Chief Minister’s programme. In fact Mr Dhumal starts his winter tour from Baijnath, the constituency of the district BJP president and a Shanta loyalist, Mr Dulo Ram. He will be addressing a public meeting at the native village of Mr Kishan Kapoor at Khaniyara on February 14. The recently held Zila Parishad election in Kangra also indicated that Mr Dhumal, appears to be in a mood to call it truce with the Shanta camp, who are in a majority in the district. Contrary to expectations, Mr Jagdamba Prasad, a Shanta man, had a smooth sailing in the Zila Parishad elections as the BJP put up a united show. Though the Agriculture Minister, Mr Vidyasagar, was initially opposed to the candidature of Mr Prasad, but ultimately he gave in. Mr Dhumal on his part has tried to consolidate his position in Kangra district, having 16 assembly segments by announcing some major projects, including the setting up of the long overdue Apollo hospital at Palampur, the Rs 30-crore Sidhata irrigation project, construction of a mini secretariat in Dharamsala, Kholi and Neugal hydel projects and strengthening of the infrastructure at the Tanda Medical College started by the Congress. |
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Dhumal blames Cong for all ills HAMIRPUR, Feb 7 — The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal has blasted the previous Congress governments, for all the ills, the state was suffering at present. It was due to wrong policies and fixation of wrong priorities for various schemes that the state was facing financial crunch. He said he had presented a paper in the Himachal Vidhan Sabha in which he had revealed that the interest of the loans taken by the state from year 1980-2000 had gone up by Rs 1090 crore and were likely to hike in future. He said that it was the moral duty of all Himachalis to contribute his best to bring the state out of red. Addressing a state-level conference of the draughtsmen of the Himachal Pradesh Power Board here last evening, the Chief Minister said his government had visualised prosperous state by 2010 and employees would have to play a vital role in that. Prof Dhumal lauded the contribution of employees in field of the development of the state. He said nothing could be achieved without the active contribution of the employees in taking the state forward in every field of development. He said his government was keen to make Himachal a model of India by the year 2010. He said work on 6,100 mw capacity power projects was going on in full swing and efforts were still afoot to start more power projects in the state. The function was also addressed by the Power Minister, Mr Ravinder Ravi and Mrs Urmila Thakur, parliamentary secretary. |
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HPSEB union flays management’s move SHIMLA, Feb 7 — The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Employees Union has assailed the board management’s move to appoint an outsider as the Chief Accounts Officer on deputation and threatened to launch an agitation if the move was not dropped. Mr Chander Singh Mandyal, general secretary of the union, said the post was always manned by officers from amongst the accounts cadre of the board, except on one occasion, due to litigation, when the incumbent was requisitioned from the office of the Accountant General for one year. He was, however, repatriated in November last year after the union adopted an agitational approach. He said the fresh move to appoint the Chief Accounts Officer from outside would not only put an additional financial burden of Rs 5 lakh per annum, but also create stagnation in the
accounts cadre. He urged Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to ensure that the senior most officer of the board was promoted to the post. |
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Lecturer booked for fraud CHAMBA, Feb 7 — The district police has registered a case of fraud, misappropriation, tempering with official records against J.K. Verma, Senior Lecturer,
Assistant Government Postgraduate College, here. According to an FIR, lodged with the police on January 4, the Controller of Examinations of HP University intimated. Mr V.D. Kuthiala, Principal of Government Postgraduate College, in June, last year, that five blank answerbooks were smuggled out of the college examination centre. Consequently, a committee comprising three teachers was constituted to look into the matter. During the stock verification, it came to light that J.K. Verma, who was holding the charge for many years was shifted from the post on February 24, 2000. There were complaints regarding the non-payment of examination remuneration to some officials, non-settlement of university accounts and lapses in the conduct of examination and delivery of 15,000 answerbooks from the university officials unauthorisedly. It was also noticed that Verma had not made the entry of the said assignment in the stock register. Moreover, the stock-in-hand showed one answerbook in excess instead of the shortage of five answerbooks sent to the university. The detailed scrutiny of the day-to-day consumption of the answerbooks recorded in the stock register and form SF-4 provided by the university to furnish details of daily consumption showed that Verma had indulged in recording answerbooks consumption either in excess or less than the actual consumption and tempering with the stock register entries, which resulted in a total of 117 answerbooks being shown as consumed in excess of the actual consumption from 1997 to 1999. The said discrepancy has also been pointed out by the university authorities and the college enquiry committee. Entries of less and excess consumption of answerbooks had been intimated by Verma, but not authenticated by the Principal. There is also an apprehension that he in connivance with Ved Vyas of Kali village, Batt, Chamba district, was responsible for the removal and despatch of five answerbooks. Vyas had been engaged to work during the April-May examination last year and also during the Indira Gandhi National Open University exams where Verma was working as examination clerk as per the statement of Mr V.D. Kuthiala, Principal of the college. Meanwhile, Mr Sanjay Kundu, SP, told The Tribune that a case in this connection had been registered under various Sections of the IPC, on January 4. She SP said the university authorities had been asked to submit the necessary records with a view to proceeding further in the case and arresting the accused. |
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Rampur cries for development SHIMLA: Remote areas of Rampur subdivision in Shimla district are suffering due to lack of basic amenities and infrastructure, with even the panchayats, which have been declared backward, waiting for their development. The newly elected member of the Shimla Zila Parishad, Duttnagar Ward No-3, Dr Kedar Singh, has urged the government to fullfil the basic requirements of the poor farmers of these remote areas. There are 12 panchayats under this ward and most of them are very far from development. Kashapath, Bharash, Kuki, Darkari are among the few panchayats in need of progress. There are no link roads in these areas even five decades after Independence. Due to lack of infrastructure and political awakening, these areas have remained undeveloped. There is no modern mode of transportation and people still carry goods on their backs or on mules. The farmers’ economic condition is bad due to non-availability of cash crops and fruits like apple. Even today, people cultivate land with old agricultural implements. Besides, the government institutions of education and health have no proper facilities. The limited number of schools that are there have a severe shortage of teachers. Some dispensaries are running without doctors. Dr Kedar Singh said that due to haphazard transfer and posting of employees to tribal and backward areas, no government officials are interested in remaining in these areas as no benefits are given to the employees who serve in these difficult areas. The schools are up to matric level only and few students go out for higher education as they cannot afford further studies. The demand for plus two schools and vocational institutes at Rampur is gathering dust, says Dr Kedar Singh. The area between Kashapath and Darkari is rich in minerals and precious uranium, but due to non-availability of road, the uranium mines are still untapped. A few years back the Central Government with the help of the state government had taken the initiative to extricate the uranium but the effort failed due to lack of transportation facilities. Government schemes like the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and the Public Distribution System (PDS) are not to the satisfaction of the people, even in the fair price shops, subsidies are not given to the poor. The essential commodities are at times sold at the market price. Even the communication system, like telephones, is not available in the area. |
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HP scheme to check tax evasion SHIMLA, Feb 7 — The department of Excise and Taxation has announced a new scheme providing rewards to those providing information regarding tax evasion. Giving details of the “Himachal Pradesh Kar Sehyog Purskar Yojna” a spokesman for the department said any person who provided specific, genuine and substantive information resulting in the detection of tax evasion leading to the recovery of an amount not less than Rs 50,000 as tax or penalty, would be entitled to reward. The information should be given to the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner of the district or any other senior official of the department. If the information resulted in detection of tax evasion, the eligible informer would be paid a reward up to 10 per cent of the tax and penalty realised. The identity of the person providing information would be kept confidential, he added. The spokesman added that a similar scheme had also been drawn up for those giving information regarding illicit or smuggled liquor or a working still. The minimum reward in such cases would be Rs 500 which could go up to Rs 20,000 depending on the seizure made on the basis of the information, he added. The department hoped that the scheme would help, increase revenue in the coming years and reduce the cases of tax evasion and illicit distillation. |
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Second phase of census operation to begin on Feb 9 SHIMLA, Feb 7 — Mr A.K. Goswami, Chief Secretary, reviewed the preparations for the second phase of census operation —2001 in the state here. The enumeration of population will be conducted from February 9 to February 28 and the enumerators will carry out revision from March 1 to 5 to update their census record. He said population enumeration would be conducted in 69 tehsils and sub-tehsils, 44 towns of the state
and, while in the flood ravaged Kinnaur district it would be conducted during May-June, 2001. He said Deputy Commissioner would oversee the entire operation in their respective districts and Additional District Magistrates, Sub Divisional Magistrates, tehsildars, naib-tehsildars, executive officers and secretaries of the urban local bodies had been entrusted with the responsibility to ensure full
coverage of the population and collection of information in their respective areas. |
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BJP ex-servicemen
cells’ conveners SHIMLA, Feb 7 — Maj P.C. Thakur, convener of the Ex-Servicemen’s cell of the state BJP, has appointed conveners of the cell for eight districts. Col Ravi Ved has been made convener for Chamba, Capt Kashmir Chand for Hamirpur, Capt, Bhag Chand for Kulu, Col H.S. Dogra for Lahaul-Spiti, P.P. Singh for Kangra, Subedar Raghunath Sharma for Solan, Capt Sohan Lal Negi for Kinnaur and Devinder Singh for Sirmaur. He also nominated Brig L.C. Jaswal, and Brig J.S. Pathania as advisers and Col Imphal Singh, Capt Yashpal and Subedar N. Begta as members of the cell. Maj Thakur has urged ex-servicemen to donate liberally for the earthquake relief fund. |
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Computerised rail booking HAMIRPUR, Feb 7 — Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said here yesterday that a computerised railway booking counter would start functioning at the local bus stand by March this year. It would benefit not only the people of Hamirpur but also of adjoining districts. Laying the foundation stone of a Rs 2 crore auditorium in the campus of the Regional Engineering College, he dedicated to the students and the staff an open air theatre constructed at a cost of Rs 38 lakh. The Chief Minister said the state government was committed to promoting technical education, both at the lower and higher level, in the state. It was opening software and hardware parks and efforts were afoot to start a university of engineering at Hamirpur. The Chief Minister announced that a regular principal for the college would be appointed soon. Mr Ravinder Ravi, Minister of State for Technical Education, and Mrs Urmila Thakur, Parliamentary Secretary, also attended the function. |
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ABVP
protest against assault SOLAN, Feb 7 — As many as 70 ABVP activists yesterday took out a procession through the main bazaars of this town and later held a rally in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in protest against the alleged murderous attack on former ABVP general secretary Subhash Sharma in Shimla last week. ABVP organising secretary Subhash Kalia, addressing the rally, threatened that they would intensify their agitation if the culprits were not arrested within 15 days. He alleged that Mr Sharma was attacked when he was taking part in ground tests conducted by the H.P. Public Service Commission in connection with the recruitment of forest rangers. |
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NCP office-bearers’
list released KULU, Feb 7 — Mr Ravi Thakur, general secretary and in charge, frontal organisations of the Nationalist Congress Party, released lists of the state office-bearers and the district presidents of the Himachal Pradesh Nationalist Youth Congress here today. Following are the office-bearers of the state unit of the Himachal Pradesh Nationalist Youth Congress: vice-presidents — Mr Surinder Shonta (Lauhul & Spiti), Mr Sandeep Chauhan (Kangra), Mr Pardeep Singh (Kinnaur), Ms Deepika Bhardwaj (Bilaspur), Mr Krishan Chandel (Mandi); General Secretary — Mr Ram Dev Sharma (Kulu), Mr Harish Sharma (Mandi), Mr Sanjay Sharma (Mandi) and Mr Ashwani Kumar (Kangra); secretaries — Mr Suresh Thakur (Mandi) and Mr Rakesh Kumar (Chamba), Ms Tamanna (Kulu), Ms Anamika (Kulu) and Mr Anil Kumar (Hamirpur) and joint secretaries — Mr Jeevan Kumar Sharma (Solan) and Mr Aditya (Kulu).
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Himachal gets its first Internet service SHIMLA, Feb 7 — In a significant step which will boost the growth of the information technology sector in the state, CN Solutions, market leader in Internet solutions in South-East Asia, today launched IndiaOne, Himachal’s first and only private Internet service provider. Besides dial-up Internet accounts, the company will also provide high-speed connectivity through leased lines through its state-of-art network centre and farm server, the only of its kind in the region which is hosting dedicated and collocated servers for Internet companies across the world. It will also have facilities for website development, software development and turnkey Internet projects. The high-speed leased lines with assured bandwidth will meet the demand of high-end users and research organisations for reliable and fast connectivity. It is the only Internet service provider to have been specifically licensed by the Centre for providing private Internet services in the state. A spokesman of the company said that dial-up accounts had been developed keeping in mind the needs of various classes of Internet users. While the infinity series of packages offered unlimited surfing at a fixed low monthly price, the flexi series gave allowed subscribers to use as many hours as they wanted at their convenience, without imposing any expiration limits. Under the infinity series the subscriber would have to pay only Rs 329 per month, whereas for the flexi package Rs 425 would be charged for 25 hours without any validity periods. |
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Ski lovers a disappointed lot MANALI, Feb 7 — Snow continues to elude the winter sports lovers in the entire region of western Himalayas. The famous Solang ski slopes, which used to play host to national winter games on many a times in the past years, are presenting a deserted look this year. The famous ski slopes which normally used to have five to six feet snow are totally devoid of snow and bare, which has disappointed ski lovers. This year the ski slopes had only about two feet snow on January 21 but due to high temperature snow melted after one week. Even the higher reaches like the Bhrigu slopes, the Rohtang pass, the Hamta pass and the Chandrakhani pass which are at an altitude ranging from 10,000 feet to 15,000 feet are having very less snow this year. The helicopter-skiing organisers in Manali are facing an uphill task, as a thin layer of snow on the higher reaches have forced the heli-skiing lovers from western countries to
cancel their trip to Manali. The Directorate of Mountaineering and Allied Sports here which used to conduct many ski courses during winter months at the Solang ski slopes every year and impart training to hundreds of participants had to postpone or cancel many courses. According to Mr H.S. Chauhan, Director of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali, at present 59 participants are taking part in the basic ski course at the Solang Nullah ski slopes but due to lack of sufficient snow the praticipants have to climb up to the Phatru slopes to learn their ski lessons. Participants have to climb up about two
kilometers to the Phatru slopes. He said the first ski course which was to commence on January 11 was postponed to January 28. The method of instruction course to be started on February 7 has either to be postponed or cancelled. Similarly, the fate of ski basic course starting on February 14 also hangs in balance. According to the spokesman for the helicopter skiing operation this year there was 100 per cent booking for the heli-skiing but due to very less snowfall on the higher reaches 62 per cent of the booking had been cancelled. He further added that if the higher reaches in the region do not experience fresh snowfall many more cancellations will ensue. The heli-skiing organisation at Manali had only one helicopter but seeing a very good response. It arranged two helicopters this year and the third one was to come little later. But now its arrival is doubtful. He added that till date only 18 heli-skiers out of 47 mostly from the USA and Europe participated in the event. Even the 18 participants are not happy with the heli-skiing instead sight seeing was being conducted for these participants. The Manali-Leh highway has become accessible by vehicles till Gulaba, about 24 km from Manali, which is quite unusual at this time and if the present weather conditions continued the 13,050 feet Rohtang pass becomes through by the end of March this year. |
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Scribes boycott
press conference HAMIRPUR, Feb 7 — Showing their strength and unity, the journalists working at the district headquarters town this afternoon boycotted the press conference of the HP BJP Chief, Mr Jai Krishan Sharma. They were informed in the morning that a press conference of the state BJP Chief would be held at Hotel Hamir in the afternoon. All the journalists reached the venue on time. The BJP Chief along with the district BJP Chief and the Education Minister, Mr Ishwar Dass Dhiman also reached the venue. However, they remained gossiping in a separate room. The journalists waited for the BJP Chief and others for about half-an-hour but when they failed to turn up, they boycotted the press conference and left for their respective offices. This is for the fourth time during past one year that the local journalists had to boycott the press conferences of politicians and governments officers after waiting for long hours.
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Lovers commit suicide DHARAMSALA, Feb 7 (UNI) — Despite having the twists and turns of a regular Hindi potboiler, this real-life drama didn’t have the usual happy ending and claimed the lives of two young people who were part of a love triangle. Additional district police chief N.D. Sareen said here today that Ajay Kumar (20), a resident of Kalroo village, fell for the charms of Indu Bala (19), from the same village. The duo continued their courtship for nearly 18 months before events took a curious turn. Ajay developed a liking for Indu’s cousin Saroj and offered to marry her. But that lady turned down the proposal saying her parents had already fixed her marriage somewhere else. Frustrated, Ajay killed himself last evening by jumping into the Gaj Khud near Kalroo. As the body was brought home, Indu, who loved him deeply, could not bear the separation and committed suicide by hanging herself at her home. Following two deaths in the village, residents kept a watch on Saroj. She also made an attempt to commit suicide by hanging herself, but prompt intervention by the people at home saved her life. |
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Chemists’ names
on suicide note SOLAN, Feb 7 — The local Drug Inspector and a police party raided shops of two chemists who had been named in the suicide note left by Sameeran Mohanta, a student of Parmar University, who reportedly committed suicide in his hostel room on Monday. While it could not be ascertained whether any incriminating evidence was found during the raids, police sources said large quantities of tranquilisers and other drugs had been recovered from his room. |
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Offering tongue to Goddess DHARAMSALA, Feb 7 (UNI) — A 25-year-old sadhu today chopped off his tongue and offered it to Goddess Jawalaji at the famous Jawalamukhi Temple, 52 km from here, and refused to accept medical treatment, the police said here. The Kangra district additional police chief, Mr N.D. Sareen, told UNI that the sadhu from Uttar Pradesh visited the temple at 7.30 a.m. and cut his tongue and offered it to the goddess. The bleeding sadhu, who was identified as Ambika Saran, was taken by the police to the primary health centre at Jawalamukhi for treatment, which was refused by him. He gave in writing his name and his refusal to get treatment from the hospital, Mr Sareen said. He said the sadhu in his written statement stated that he had promised that if the goddess fulfilled his request (ardas) he would offer his tongue. |
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Red Cross Bhavan
inaugurated MANDI, Feb 7 — Mr Prabodh Sexena, Deputy Commissioner, and president of the District Red Cross Society, inaugurated the Red Cross Bhavan near the Zonal hospital last evening. He appreciated the gesture of the people who donated liberally for the bhavan, which would be given on a nominal rent to the school for the deaf and dumb. |
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Haj pilgrims to be
immunised SHIMLA, Feb 7 — The Himachal Pradesh State Haj Committee will organise an immunisation camp at Shimla and Nahan on February 9 for those going on Haj pilgrimage. According to the secretary of the State Haj Committee, the immunisation of 29 Haj pilgrims from Sirmaur will be conducted by the Chief Medical Officer, Nahan, while for other districts it will be conducted at the dispensary of the HP Secretariat here. |
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Remand of Pak
spy extended SUNDERNAGAR, Feb 7 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate has remanded Sayeed Naquavi of Paiyala in police custody for four days in connection with his alleged involvement with the ISI of Pakistan. The suspect was nabbed by the police from a temple at BBMB Colony on January 26. Later, it was reported that he was a spy and had visited Pakistan twice. Earlier he had got a police remand for 10 days. Several e-mail messages from various places had been recovered. According to the police, the suspect used to send secret information regarding the deployment of the Army through e-mail to Pakistan. 2.2 kg charas
seized, 3 held SHIMLA, Feb 7 — The police today seized 2.2 kg of charas from a local serai near bus stand during routine checking. Three persons, all of them from Haryana, have been arrested and booked under the NDPS Act. Ramesh Kumar of Kalawati village in Jind was carrying 900 gm of charas and his two companions Satpal and Nihal Singh from Hisar, 700 gm and 600 gm of charas, respectively. |
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