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Landslide kills 4 of family
Himachal, J&K police to launch joint operation
HC cancels CPMT, orders fresh test
Setback to VC
Passport office at Shimla soon
Railways amends consignment transportation norms
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Bridge needs attention
7 booked for damaging hotel furniture, crockery
Bank strike tomorrow
Demonstration by ABVP members in Nurpur
Couple among 7 held for murder
Kargil martyrs remembered
Man dies of heart attack over land dispute
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Landslide kills 4 of family
Shimla, July 26 The family members were fast asleep when the landslide swallowed the house around midnight. The tragedy came to light in the morning when the villagers found that the house was not there. Only a heap of mud and debris was visible at the spot. The bodies of the victims were extricated from the debris by villagers. The Additional District Magistrate, the SDM and local MLA Jai Ram Thakur visited the spot. The district administration gave immediate relief of Rs 20,000 to Alam Chand, father of deceased Chaman Lal. Other victims included Jyotsna Devi, wife of Chaman Lal and their daughters — two-and-half-year-old Durga Devi and six-month-old Bhanupriya. Chaman Lal was employed with a private company which also gave an immediate relief of Rs 10,000 to Alam Chand. Several areas of Mandi, Shimla, Kullu and Una districts received moderate rainfall during the past 24 hours after a day’s respite from the wet conditions. Sujanpur Tira in Hamirpur district recorded the heaviest rainfall of 54 mm, followed by 51.6 mm at Pandoh and 35 mm at Jogindernagar (both in Mandi district), 46 mm at Bangana in Una district and 26.6 mm in Shimla. Solang nullah in Kullu district also recorded 22 mm rain, while Dharamsala in Kangra district and Nadaun in Hamirpur recorded 19.6 and 18 mm of rain, respectively. Kalpa in Kinnaur and Patsio in Lahaul-Spiti recorded 2.6 and 0.4 mm rain. The minimum temperature recorded at Shimla was 16.8°C, while Sundernagar and Bhuntar recorded night temperatures of 23.6°C and 20.7°C, respectively. Moderate showers are likely at isolated places in the state during the next 24 hours. Sangla valley remained cut off by road link from the rest of the country for the third day. The operation to restore the Hindustan-Tibet road link was going on war footing, said Colonel M.L. Kom, Officer Commanding of the 68 RCC of the General Engineering Reserve Force (GREF). The District Magistrate of Kinnaur, Dr Amandeep Garg, said there were no reports of fresh blockades.
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Himachal, J&K police to launch joint operation
Dharamsala, July 26 Confirming this to The Tribune here today, DIG P.L.Thakur said there were reports of massive militant activity near the Khundimaral area and there was an apprehension that militants sneaking into Himachal Pradesh. Although the state police undertakes regular combing operations in association with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), it is rarely that the police departments of both states come together to take militants to task. As per a proposal prepared by the Himachal Pradesh police, the Jammu and Kashmir police personnel would come down to Chamba from Jammu and the joint operation would begin from the Kihar and Tisa sectors. “We have decided to beef up security in the border areas as a precautionary measure in view of the recent incidents of violence along the border. The possibility of militants sneaking into Himachal Pradesh due to excessive pressure from the other side cannot be ruled out,” said Mr Thakur. There is deployment of the ITBP in Kihar, Tisa and Khairi sectors in Chamba district, which shares a boundary of around 167 km with Jammu and Kashmir. The ITBP guards an inter-state boundary of 175 km with Jammu and Kashmir in the higher reaches and it has its posts at over 12 locations in the area, with many if its companies at forward locations. While the headquarters of the IHBT is in Chamba, there are deployments in Sappa Cholu, along the Doda area, besides posts in Mangli, Thanood, Koti, Dapun, Tisa, Galai and Langera. As soon as snow starts melting, the posts are shifted to forward locations. For instance, the post in Chachul would move 3 km ahead to Dapun in summers. In May, the state police had sounded an alert in the Chamba areas bordering Jammu and Kashmir following the massacre of 22 persons in the adjoining Doda area after a meeting of senior police officials in Shimla. There had been several instances in the past when militants from Jammu and Kashmir infiltrated into Himachal Pradesh and killed people. The police had stepped up surveillance in the Tisa, Kihar and Pangi areas, where the ITBP and the state police were guarding the border. With snow-covered high mountain passes along the 260-km boundary becoming surmountable in summer, the threat of militant attacks had increased. Whenever the security forces had mounted pressure on militants in the Jammu and Kashmir areas, they crossed into Himachal Pradesh as there was less security there. On August 2, 1998, militants shot 35 labourers who were constructing a road in the Kalaban-Satrundi area of Kihar. The Union Home Ministry and the Army intelligence had also asked the state police to remain on the alert in the Chamba areas as militants could strike there.
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HC cancels CPMT, orders fresh test
Shimla, July 26 As a consequence of the cancellation of the result, the court directed the university to conduct CPMT-2006 afresh in the week commencing from August 14. The court directed the university that only those candidates would be eligible to take the examination who had appeared in the cancelled examination. The date of the examination would be notified by the university latest by July 30 and the result be declared within a week of the conduct of the examination. A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice Surjit Singh, observed that the report of the committee of police officers clearly pointed out that the question paper might have been leaked. Therefore, the Registrar of the university was directed to register a case formally with the police station concerned. Further, regular investigations after the registration of the case be entrusted to the same committee which conducted the initial inquiry. The investigations be completed expeditiously, possibly within two months from today. Writing for the Bench, Mr Justice Surjit Singh observed that the cancelling the exam had been a very difficult decision to take but the fair examination for admission to public educational institutions was a sine qua non. It was not only to ensure fair play but also for building public confidence. The court directed the Vice-Chancellor to put forth within three months a detailed comprehensive scheme to ensure that in future the leakage of question papers did not take place at all.
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Setback to VC
Shimla, July 26 It is for the first time in the history of the university that an examination has been cancelled on the grounds of the leakage of a question paper. It is the worst scam to hit the institution since the question paper printing scam four years ago, which saw the exit of the then Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.D. Sharma. A criminal case is still pending against him. The one-man inquiry by a former Registrar of the university ordered by Dr Verma only made things worse. The inquiry officer was given only three days to complete the job and as expected he found no evidence of the leakage or any other malpractices in the conduct of the
CPMT. The aggrieved students saw the probe as an exercise to cover up the scam and moved the High Court. Worse, the university refused to change its stand even after the three-member committee constituted by the court found evidence of the leakage of the question paper, which indicated that at least 38 students knew the paper. The CPM and BJP have hailed the verdict and rapped the government for defending the university till the pronouncement of the judgement. The CPM has demanded immediate removal of Dr Verma, who, it alleged, tried to brush the scandal under the carpet.
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Passport office at Shimla soon
Jalandhar, July 26 Mr Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs, has been working overtime to get an independent RPO for Himachal Pradesh at Shimla. His efforts have started showing results with the allotment of a building, owned by the Railway Board, to the ministry for the setting up of the RPO. The building, ministry sources said, is at present in the possession of the Himachal Excise Department, but, there seemingly is no problem in handing it over to the ministry. Once, the formality of practical acquisition of the building is complete, the ministry can set-up the RPO within a couple of days, said a ministry official. “There is hardly any problem in setting up the necessary infrastructure after we take possession of the building, which, has already been allotted to the ministry for the purpose. The new passport office at Shimla is likely start working within one month,” he said.
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Railways amends consignment transportation norms
Kumarhatti, July 26 As per earlier arrangement, the traders were only supposed to furnish details related to the nature of goods and parcels besides addresses of the consignor and the consignee. This practice led to large-scale bungling in payment of sales tax by traders. For traders, the railway became a safer option to transport goods without paying sales tax. The Sales Tax Department had been pleading the Railways to amend its norms regarding transportation of goods. Finally, acting on a recent direction of the Kerala High Court, the Joint Commissioner of the Additional Member Committee of the Railway Board and the Additional Secretary, Revenue, amended the norms. As per the board’s notification, the Railways will permit sales tax, VAT and income tax officials to collect details of consignments from the railway parcel office. The complete address of the consignor and the consignee will be mentioned in the forwarding note (FN) and railway receipt (RR) besides the mentioning of sales tax registration number and trade identification number (TIN). In case the consignor gives declaration that the consignment is not for sales, no tax details will be required to be mentioned in FN and RR. Refusing direct interference of the Sales Tax Department in the railway functioning, the notification says the sales tax authorities are permitted to take action on consignments suspected to be related to tax evasion only at booking place or the final destination. No interference of the department will be allowed while the consignment is in transit. Moreover, to make the move a success, meetings between officials of the Railways and the Sales Tax Department will also be held. In order to check congestion on the railway premises, the goods seized will be immediately taken away by the sales tax officials. Meanwhile, a visit to Solan railway station showed that the board orders have already been made operational.
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Bridge needs attention
Kangra, July 26 The bridge, constructed on the Bathu khud in 1920 connecting the towns of Punjab with the Kangra valley, was now in bad shape as it has overlived its life of 60 years. The bridge was losing its strength due to heavy rains in the area and an increase in the daily traffic. Mr P.R. Agnihotri, a former Executive Engineer and construction consultant, told The Tribune that the bridge had technically outlived its life of 60 years and needed to be replaced with a new one on the national highway. He said that a new bridge with a bigger span should be constructed on the side of the present bridge, which would also minimise the steepness on both sides of the road. The bridge connects Jawalamukhi and Kangra temple towns, besides the pilgrims visiting Chamunda Devi also use this bridge. Mr S.K. Nag, Executive Engineer, National Highway, said that an estimate of Rs 4 crore for the construction of a new bridge on the Bathu khud was pending with the state government for sanction.
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7 booked for damaging hotel furniture, crockery
Solan, July 26 Hotel manager Raghav Shekhawat complained to the police that the youths who came in a Tata Sumo vehicle (HP-01-S-0456) first abused the hotel staff then entered the premises. They broke windowpanes, chandeliers, crockery and threatened the staff. The youths Manoj, Tanu, Shushil, Maduri, Nindu, Kaka, Guddu and others have been booked by the police under Sections 147, 149, 427 and 502 of the IPC. Hotel staff members said they would leave the place as it was difficult to work under such circumstances. They revealed the staff was pressured to compromise and withdraw cases against the youth. Hotel staff said the locals had been posing problems though they tried to keep away from them. This incident upset their business as the eight rooms where guests were staying were vacated soon after this incident. New customers were afraid to come here and their bookings were cancelled.
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Bank strike tomorrow
Shimla, July 26 The call for the strike has been jointly given by the All-India Bank Employees Association, the All India Bank Officers Association and the Bank Employees Federation of India. The main demands include expeditious extension of one more option for pension, withdrawal of the Reserve Bank of India circular on outsourcing of banking services, particularly the clearing operations, withdrawal of amendments to Section 12(2) of the Banking Regulation Act on removal of ceiling on voting rights in banks and filling of one lakh vacancies in various banks.
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Demonstration by ABVP members in Nurpur
Nurpur, July 26 The agitating students also organised a rally near the SDM court, which was addressed by the ABVP leaders, who criticised the government for not filling the vacant posts of lecturer in colleges. The students of the three government colleges organised a joint demonstration to highlight the problems and demands of the colleges. The ABVP submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the SDM, demanding filling of vacant posts of principal and lecturer in Arya Government College, Nurpur, and starting of commerce and science faculties, and adding more subjects in the art stream in the college from the current academic session. The demands of the agitating students also include postgraduate classes and construction of separate hostels for girls and boys in Government College, Dehri.
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Couple among 7 held for murder
Kangra, July 26 Mr Sudher Sharma, SHO, said Mr Preeti Singh (42), a resident of Pangi, had alighted from a bus near Rajiana on the Pathankot-Mandi highway on June 23 night and was on the way to the Dr R.P. Government Medical College at Tanda to stay with his relation for the night. Mr Sharma said Preeti Singh was drunk and lost the track in the night. In order to seek help from local residents to find his way to the Tanda hospital, he entered a locality of Sadarpur village. Villagers took him as thief and without trying to know anything, he was severely beaten up and left injured. He was later taken to the local Civil Hospital from where he was referred to the Dr R.P. Government Medical College Hospital, Dharamsala, and later to Jammu Medical College where he succumbed to his injuries this month, the SHO said. The Kangra police was informed about the death of Preeti on Monday by the Jammu police and yesterday seven residents of Sadarpur were arrested under Section 302, IPC, for murdering the Pangi resident, Mr Sharma said.
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Kargil martyrs remembered
Dharamsala, July 26 Lieut-Gen P.K.Rampal, GoC, 9 Corps, laid a wreath at the memorial and said soldiers acted as a source of inspiration for the youth of the country. He elaborated on the schemes launched by 9 Corps for the welfare of ex-servicemen like canteen facility and health schemes. Officials of the district administration and ex-servicemen from the area were present on the occasion. An ex-servicemen’s meet was organised after the function.
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Man dies of heart attack over land dispute
Kangra, July 26 Brij Kishore went to the disputed site were the duo indulged in a quarrel and Brij Kishore fell down. He was rushed to hospital where he died in the evening.
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