Shimla, October 24
The ruling Congress is pinning hopes on the charisma of party supremo, Ms Sonia Gandhi, to boost its poll prospects in Kangra, the biggest and politically most significant district, where it lost much ground due to the exit of four ministers during the downsizing of the ministry.

The rally to be addressed by Ms Gandhi at Dharamsala on October 30 is part of the party's strategy to neutralise the fallout of the downsizing exercise. As all the dropped ministers were from Kangra, the opposition BJP got a handle to revive its favourite issue of “discrimination” against the merged areas.

One of the axed ministers, Maj Vijay Singh Mankotia, even raised a banner of revolt against the party government which caused much embarrassment to the leadership. The adverse political fallout of the downsizing became evident when the party lost the Guler Assembly by-election.

Ms Gandhi has been aware of the happenings in the state and with assembly poll due in February 2008, she has been taking personal interest in the affairs of the state.

She has purposely chosen Kangra for her first public meeting in the state since the UPA came to power at the Centre. Only recently, she personally intervened to restore peace between Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, and Maj Mankotia, who were engaged in a no-holds barred battle. The party's image took a severe beating because of it.

Earlier, she appointed Ms Viplove Thakur, who hails from Kangra, as the Pradesh Congress Committee Chief, to restore balance and to partly offset the impact of the downsizing exercise.

The issue of granting due representation to Kangra again in the ministry is likely to crop up as Ms Gandhi will have a face-to-face interaction with the party during her meeting with the party office-bearers, district party chiefs and block party presidents to be held soon after the rally.

There is already a vacancy in the Cabinet and the nod for the much -awaited expansion of the ministry could follow her visit.

Incidentally, even during the run -up to the last Assembly elections she addressed her first rally at Shahpur in Kangra district in May 2002.

Mr Kuldeep Rathore, party general secretary and coordinator for the rally, said that the visit of Ms Gandhi would galvanise the rank and file of the party and set the tone for poll. He claimed that it would be the biggest ever political rally to addressed in the state.

Kangra, October 24
Members of the Tibetan community today strongly condemned the brutal Nangpa Pass shooting by the Chinese Military personnel on innocent Tibetans killing two persons, including a nun. They have demanded the release of 33 Tibetans arrested by Chinese BSF following the shooting.

The demand was raised by a joint front of six Tibetan organizations at a press conference at the Thekchen Choling main Tibetan Temple at McLeodganj. The six Tibetan NGOs, including the Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s organization, Gu Chu Sum Association, National Democratic Party of Tibet, Students for free Tibet and Regional Tibetan Youth Congress. They jointly issued a statement and demanding that Chinese Government should acknowledge the illegal shooting at the Nangpa and subsequent killing of innocent Tibetans.

They demanded that 33 Tibetans, including nuns, be released without any harm. These organisations sought the intervention of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations.

They further demanded an independent investigation in the shooting incident and urged the international community to mount pressure on China for the safety of Tibetans in Tibet.

Tupten Tsring (23), a monk amongst 41 Tibetans, who arrived at Dharamsala today, the seat of Tibetan Government in exile, told mediapersons that a group of 77 Tibetans half of them were women and nuns along with two Nepali guides were crossing Himalayan mountain ranges to reach Nepal were fired at by the Chinese Military personnel Border Security Force at the Nangpa Pass on September 30, 2006.

He said the incident took place on the glaciated Nangpa Pass at 18,753 feet just a few kilometres west of Mount Cho Oyu, and was witnessed by a number of international mountaineers that the Chinese military personnel opened fire on the Tibetans.

He said a nun Kelsang Namtao (17) was killed in the firing and five others were injured. Another 23-year-old Tibetan Kinsang Namgyal was also critically injured in the shooting, he disclosed. He said a group of 41 managed to save themselves and reached here today.

The Nangpa Pass serves as a main trading route between Tibet and Nepal, and is commonly used as an escape route by Tibetans.

A public meeting was held under the chairmanship of Mr Karma Choephel, Chairman of the Tibetan Parliament, in exile at Thekchen Choling temple. Thousands of Tibetans participated in the meeting and took out a protest march from McLeodgang to Kacheri in lower Dharamsala. Later, Mr Presm Sagar of the Bharat Tibet Sehyog Manch addressed the gathering.

Mr Lobsung Yeshi, vice-president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, said a candle procession was also organized at the McLeodgang crossing.

Shimla, October 24
Early snowfall in higher reaches has forced the Border Roads Organisation to close the Manali-Sarchu and Tandi-Killar-Bansal roads from November 1.

A spokesperson for the BRO said that the closure of the Rohtang and Baralachala passes due to snowfall did not permit any movement of vehicles.

Thus, after October 31, 2006, if any eventuality arose the BRO would not be in a position to carry out any snow clearance operation for evacuation.

In case any vehicle got stuck mid-way due to bad weather or any unforeseen eventuality, it would not be responsible for any loss of human lives and public property.

He advised the public not to take any chance to move on this road and ply vehicles after October 31, 2006.

Shimla, October 24
The Municipal Corporation (MC) yesterday launched the animal birth control and vaccination programme to rid the town of the stray dog menace.

The Commissioner, Mr Shekhar Gupta, said that the programme was being executed through the Stray Dogs Birth Control Society formed by the MC and supported by the Department of Animal Husbandry, the district administration and the Rotary Club.

“The stray dogs will be caught by the catchers, sterilised through surgical intervention and then released in the same locality from they were brought,” he stated.

He said the sterilisation programme would be carried on for five years after which the town can be safely declared as “rabies free”. He added that the basic aim was to cover all the stray dogs in the town within one year and repeat the vaccination every year.

Mr Gupta said that it would be mandatory for pet dog owners to get their dogs sterilised and vaccinated as each animal covered under the project would have a notch on one of the ear and a white coloured plastic band around his neck.

A team of veterinary doctors and technicians had received training in Jaipur to undertake the surgical intervention before the launch of the programme. This was followed by a visit of 11 MC personnel to Jaipur to get trained as dog catchers.