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Woman murdered; head missing
Forensic experts collect material seized from the hut of a private resort at McLeodganj where a woman was murdered on Saturday. — Photo by Kulwinder Sandhu
8 IAS, 25 HAS officers transferred
Mobile phone users left in lurch
Public trust for Manimahesh shrines
Flesh trade ‘thriving’ on Kalka-Shimla road
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Milk producers need govt help
Dhumal flays EC for FIR against BJP chief
National award for NHPC
Domestic LPG being put to commercial use
CM urged to upgrade 10 posts
BJP seeks probe into oxen killing
‘Invest in health’ on World Health Day
Shifting of liquor vend sought
Vocational courses for cured lepers
Symposium on analytical science
CM a failure: Ex-minister
Animals wreak havoc on crops
UK varsity degree for Resident Commissioner
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Woman murdered; head missing
McLeodganj, April 7 The murderers fled from the spot taking advantage of the darkness through a window of the hut that they had hired on rent at Bhagsu Valley Resort situated around 600 m down the temple road at upper McLeodganj. They also took away the chopped-off head of the woman. The headless body was recovered by the police this afternoon and sent to Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College and Hospital at Dharamsala for a post-mortem examination, which would be conducted tomorrow. Surinder Kumar and Sunny, caretakers of the resort, told the police that two young boys, one around 17 years of age and the other in early twenties, came to the resort around 6.30 pm along with a woman of around 26 years of age. They demanded a separate hut. The caretakers provided them a hut on a rent of Rs 800 per day, but did not make any entry in the register of the resort. The visitors entered the hut around 6.45 pm and ordered for dinner immediately. The vegetarian meal that they ordered was provided to them around 7.15 pm. After finishing the meals, they locked the hut from inside. Around 10.30 pm, the boys came to the restaurant of the resort and demanded tea. Since, the kitchen was closed at that time, they were refused the tea, said the caretakers. After sometime, the younger boy demanded a cold drink but that was also not served to them, the caretakers added. After this, no body knew what happened during the night since the hut was locked from inside with lights off. Surinder Kumar said he went to the hut in the morning to get order for breakfast, but no one opened the door. “I saw a window of the room open and peeped through it to check them,” he said. But he could not see anybody in the hut. He went inside and found someone sleeping with his body covered with a blanket. When he took off the blanket, there were only pillows there. He saw some bloodstains. On checking, he found a woman’s headless body lying under the bed. The caretakers of the resort informed the police around 11 am. Kangra SP Ajay Yadav reached the spot with additional SP Santosh Patial and some policemen. Teams of the forensic experts and dog squads were also requisitioned. The SP said an FIR had been lodged under Section 302 of the IPC and a hunt was on to trace the head of the dead body and nab the culprits. Preliminary investigations indicated that the deceased woman and the boys, who murdered her, were either from Punjab or Jammu region, added Ajay Yadav. |
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8 IAS, 25 HAS officers transferred
Shimla, April 7 Ashwini Kapoor, secretary, education, has been posted as managing director, HPMC and Agro Industries Packaging Ltd. Onkar Sharma, MD, HP State Electronics Corporation, has been appointed as director, tourism and transport, relieving Tarun Shridhar and Srikant Baldi of additional charge. J.S. Rana, commissioner, departmental enquiry, has been posted as settlement officer, Shimla. Maneesh Garg, DC, Bilaspur, has been posted as MD, HP Electronics Development Corporation. Nandita Gupta, ADC, Kangra, has been posted as additional secretary, health and director, National Rural Health Mission. C. Paulrasu, AC development-cum-BDO, Naggar, has been posted as SDM Kangra and will also hold the post of RTO, Kangra. Mamta, AC Development-cum-BDO Kunihar, Solan, has been posted as SDM, Dehra in Kangra. Priyanka Basu Ingti, AC Development-cum BDO, Indora, has been posted as SDM, Theog. Mohan Chauhan, director, national rural health mission, has been posted as additional secretary, health in place of Sandeep Bhatnagar who goes as additional registrar, cooperative societies. Rajender Singh, director, youth services and sports as ADC, Bilaspur and will also hold the post of DC, Bilaspur. Arun Kumar Sharma, Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) HPSEB as commissioner, departmental enquiries. Prem Singh Draik, additional director, tourism, has been posted against the same post in the department of animal husbandry and agriculture. S.C. Negi, ADC Shimla, has been posted as director, ayurveda. Ajay Sharma, ADM (law and order) Shimla has been posted as ADC, Shimla, and will continue to hold additional charge of ADM, Shimla. B.S. Thakur, registrar, HPAT, has been posted as additional director, panchayati raj. J.M. Pathania, additional director, information technology, has been posted as registrar, HP State Administrative Tribunal. Jai Sain Chauhan, joint director, urban development, has been posted as LAO, HPSEB. K.D. Lakhanpal, secretary, HP Board of School Education, has been posted as ADM-cum-project director, DRDA, Kangra. M.P. Sood, additional director, consolidation, has been posted as additional director, elementary education. N.K. Lath, SDM Nurpur, has been posted as ADM, Bharmour, in place of Gopal Sharma who goes as ADM Chamba-cum-project director, DRDA, Chamba. Baldev Singh Attri, SDM, Una, has been posted ADM, Una. M.L. Sharma, SDM, Dehra, is secretary, HP Board of School Education, Dharamsala. Dorje Chhering Negi, joint director, primary education is SDM (Rural) Shimla. Gopal Chand, SDM Theog has been posted as SDM, Gohar in Mandi district. O.P Kant, SDM (Rural) Shimla, has been posted as joint director, urban development. Baldev Ram Thakur, SDM, Bilaspur, has been posted as SDM, Kulu. Rakesh Sharma, SDM, Dharamsala, has been posted as SDM, Una, Duni Chand Rana, SDM Dalhousie, has been posted as SDM, Dharamsala. Piar Chand Akela, LAO, PWD, Kangra, has been posted as SDM, Bilaspur. Shubh Karan Singh, AC to DC Kangra, has been posted as SDM, Dalhousie. I.S. Bhardwaj, SDM Kulu, has been posted as SDM, Nurpur.
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Mobile phone users left in lurch
Kangra, April 7 It was learnt that thousands of mobile phones were left without incoming call facility allegedly due to delay in submission of their documents. Mr S.K.
Sheemar, Deputy General Manager, when contacted said those mobile customers who had not deposited their documents with the department had been barred from the incoming or outgoing call facilities. He, however, could not confirm the total number of such mobile subscribers whose mobiles were de-activated today. It is learnt that the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India had directed all private telecom agencies and BSNL to submit full details of the post-paid mobile subscribers before March 31, 2006. In default, the agency concerned would have to pay a penalty of Rs 1000 per mobile phone connection. There are over five lakh mobile phone subscribers in Himachal circle and more than one lakh in Dharamsala and Chamba districts. The mobile phone subscribers who had submitted all relevant documents to the BSNL well in time were caught unawares when their incoming calls were barred without any reason. When contacted, SDO, Mobiles, Dharamsala, said restoration of the incoming calls would be possible only after the verification was
complete. S.K. Sheemar, Deputy General Manager, said feeding of the verification data was the responsibility of the GMTD of the concerned telecom districts. He said mobiles were activated only after verification feeds. When asked why mobiles of those who had submitted their verification documents well in time were deactivated, the DGM said their data had not been fed till date. Customers alleged that BSNL authorities remained in deep slumber till the last date and got into action only in the new financial year. |
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Public trust for Manimahesh shrines
Chamba, April 7 With the formation of a public trust for management and upkeep of Manimahesh and Bharmour shrines, a long-cherished demand of the local population has been fulfilled. This year the state-level Manimahesh pilgrimage will be organized under the aegis of the trust. Every year, more than one lakh pilgrims and devotees of Lord Shiva, including tourists from various parts of the country, visit these shrines. Giving this information to this correspondent here today, Deputy Commissioner of Chamba Pushpendra Rajput said all temples of the famous Manimahesh holy centre, including
Bharmour, had been included in the public trust under the provisions of the Act by the state government for effective management. The DC said as per provisions of the Act, the Deputy Commissioner of Chamba would be the Commissioner while the Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) Bharmour would be the member secretary who would act as assistant commissioner of the trust. The Resident Commissioner of Bharmour would be the chairman of the trust and the tehsildar of Bharmour would be the temple officer, the DC pointed out. "In order to nominate members of the governing body, we are planning to convene the first meeting of the trust at a suitable time in the near future to shortlist members from amongst local priests. The DC said in future, the share of offerings would be earmarked to each quarter with a share of the trust after a broad consensus. This year, the famous Manimahesh pilgrimage in Chamba district will start on September 4 on the eve of Janamashtmi and conclude on September 19. |
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Flesh trade ‘thriving’ on Kalka-Shimla road
Solan, April 7 According to the report, large-scale vehicular movement has triggered this illegal activity along the highway. Further, the presence of a large number of dhabas, hotels, vehicle-repair shops has led to frequent halts of trucks on the highway. According to the survey, truck-halting sites exist only in Bilaspur and Solan districts. The presence of industrial areas at Parwanoo, Baddi, Barotiwala,
Chambaghat, Darlaghat and Nalagarh has accounted for a large number of sites in Solan district. The report further states that this activity is further triggered by the fact that on 32 sites the truck drivers halt overnight. Since Parwanoo is on the border of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, and is also a tax point, trucks have to wait for getting their entry on the first come and first serve basis. Trucks, which reach Parwanoo at night, are unable to get entry in Punjab without tax payment, so they are compelled to halt in Parwanoo at night. The truckers mainly negotiate on highways, dhabas and truck-halting points. The report has rejected the presence of brothel sites in the entire state, but has stressed that the trade is being operated in a clandestine way through various eating joints along the national highway. Mostly truckers visit sex workers at industrial sites like ACC Cement Factory,
Barmana, Darlaghat, Nightqueen factory Sirmaur, Pashupati Spinning Mill, Sirmaur etc. Gabriel India Ltd, Parwanoo, Solan etc. There are no pimps or agents involved, but usually dhaba owners or hotel staff, help these truckers identify and have access to sex workers. Police officials denied any such activity and said they were conducting regular raids to unearth any such trade. The survey has raised a question mark over the working of the district police that has failed to detect such activities. Parwanoo DSP Ravinder Sharma said no such trade was going on in the area. He said regular checking was conducted to keep a tab on wrongdoers. |
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Milk producers need govt help
Nahan, April 7 Leaving ginger, which was the main crop, the farmers of the district shifted to milk production as diseases were destroying the crop. In the eighties, Sirmaur became the leading milk producing district in the state, with over 60 milk producing cooperative societies. Farmers produced around 18,000 litre of milk for commercial sale to HP Milkfed, private factories and other institutes. In the past seven years, HP Milkfed doubled its sale price but did not increase even a single penny in the procurement price paid to the farmers. The farmers waited for a long for the increase in prices and made several representations through their milk cooperative societies to the government. But they were not heard by anyone sitting in the ruling party said Lana Pallar, a progressive farmer, and former secretary of the Lakshmi Women Milk Producers Society Suresh Kumar. Kumar said Lakshmi Cooperative Society was one of the leading milk producers in the district, selling over 300 litre of milk per day to Milkfed, but the society stopped working about five years back as the producers shifted to other businesses. Milk production had become a loss-incurring profession. He said like his society, several milk societies had closed down but the government did not bother about the plight of the producers. He said to get the lost momentum of the milk production in the district; producers need a helping hand from the government. He said producers need financial help for the purchase of milch cattle, the milk collection vehicle of the Milkfed should touch every area to collect the milk. Day to day on- the spot checking of quality of the milk be introduced as private factories were doing in the Paonta area to pay the right price to the quality milk producers. Harinder Sharma, a milk producer, belonging to Kotla Mollar village of the Dadahu area under Nahan sub division reacted that farmers were demanding increase for the past over six years. He added that this delayed increase in the procurement price had been a big set back to the milk producers. Sharma said the long awaited increase in procurement price has come after a long wait, which had finally given hope to the farmers to revive their business, which they had discontinued due to poor procurement prices. He felt that procurement price must be increased to at least Rs 3 in place of Rs 2 to give a boost to milk production at a time when milk was being sold in the open market at a price of Rs 20 a litre. HP Milkfed GM Ashwani Thakur when contacted said the department was making every effort to increase the milk production in the state and add more charm in this business, so that more farmers were attracted to the business. He said with new policies of Milkfed, including increasing of procurement price would attract farmers which would boost production. He added that to provide loan facility to farmers on cheap interest rates Milkfed had signed a MoU with the State Bank of India. Under this scheme, milk producers who were members of the milk producing societies would be given financial help to purchase milch cattle by the bank. He said Milkfed had received hundreds of applications from producers under this scheme. He hoped that with the expansion of the Milkfed network in Sirmaur district, the milk collection would increase. R. K. Chauhan, manager, HP Milkfed, Nahan, disclosed that at present 45 milk producers cooperative societies were working in the district.
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Dhumal flays EC for FIR against BJP chief
Shimla, April 7 Addressing a press conference here, he said had the EC been fair it should have waited for the BJP’s reply in response to the notice served rather than registering an FIR before the lapse of the 18 hours time given to file the reply. “When the party had already clarified that it had neither produced, prepared or displayed the impugned CD and it was not a part of the party’s campaign material, then registering of the FIR was wrong,” he said. The party looked into the matter, regretted the lapse and took action by removing the state BJP spokesperson Manoj Mishra even before any complaint was made. He said para 16 should have been invoked only if the party had shown defiance to the election law, model code of conduct or other directions. “Simultaneous registering of an FIR and issuing of a notice was unfair and moreover the impugned CD was not approved or seen by any of the senior party leaders,” he remarked. |
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National award for NHPC
Dalhousie, April 7 During this period, the operating availability of Chamera-I power station was 98.63 per cent and the generation achieved was 102.6 per cent. Sushil Kumar Shinde, union minister of power, and Anil Razdan, secretary (power), were also present. The award for Chamera- I power station was received by S.K. Garg, chairman and managing director of NHPC, and S.P. Sen, director, (technical), NHPC, an official communiqué of the NHPC said today. The 540 MW Chamera power station stage-I is a run-of-the-river scheme built on the Ravi, which is a major river of the Indus basin, originating in the Himalayas from the Bada Bhanghal branch of the mighty Dhauladhar ranges. The project utilizes the hydropower potential available after the confluence of the river Siul with the Ravi. The project was commissioned in March, 1994. The project has contributed greatly to the socio-economic development of the Chamba region. Important lifelines like Chamba-Banikhet-Pathankot were widened and a vast network of roads within the project precincts linking various villages was completed.
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Domestic LPG being put to commercial use
Nahan, April 7 In accordance with the standing orders, a domestic consumer should be supplied a gas container (LPG) within a week. The commercial rate of an LPG cylinder is Rs 850, while that meant for domestic use is available for Rs 305. The sale of essential commodities, including kerosene, were not consonance with the existing rules as no check was being made on the government ration depots, alleged retired bank employee Sohan Singh. He added fake entries were being made to exhaust the availability of consumer products earmarked for sale to authorised subscribers. At present a total number of 52 fair-price shops are running under the direct supervision of Nahan district food supply officer Devender Aggarwal. He admitted that he had not been able to register a single case so far although he had now been armed with the checking powers of food supply controller. Sirmaur district had 307 fair-price outlets but all remained unchecked fairly due to lackadaisical attitude or going hand in glove with the depot holders, alleged residents who could not avail the facilities due to blank stock, shown by owners. Aggarwal said the directorate had been urged to act tough and find the panacea at the earliest so that the masses could benefit from facilities being provided by the government. |
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CM urged to upgrade 10 posts
Shimla, April 7 It has further
demanded that the recruitment and promotion rules be amended to fill all posts of deputy directors by promotions as against the present system of
filling 75 per cent by promotion and 25 per cent by direct recruitment. Besides, all district planning officers be provided with earmarked accommodation like all other officers in the collectorate complex, who worked under the
control of deputy commissioners. |
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BJP seeks probe into oxen killing
Shimla, April 7 Addressing a press conference here today he said the government was playing with sentiments of the Hindus and not adopting a uniform policy as far as taking over religious shrines of various communities was concerned. He said it was the duty of the government to ensure that not a single case of cow slaughter took place but the practice was going on in the state. He said in 2003 also a large number of stray cows were brought and pushed downhill near
Paonta Sahib by the Chandigarh administration. “While some of them died, others were critically injured and it was on the intervention of the high court that action was taken against the Chandigarh administration,” he said. He said he was grateful to the Chief Justice of the high court who treated his letter as a PIL and took action against the Chandigarh administration. “If the need be, this time, too, I will write to the Governor, the Chief Minister and the Chief Justice as we cannot allow such inhuman treatment to animals,” he said. |
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‘Invest in health’ on World Health Day
Hamirpur, April 7 He said awareness about health is very important in today’s world when people are afflicted with many diseases in the absence of proper knowledge. Thakur also elaborated about the activities of the Red Cross society and health services created by it in the district. Another programme on this day was organised at Tohni Devi by the block health department. Addressing the participants, block health facilitator Satish Shukla said in modern times awareness about new diseases was very important. Dr Rajesh Verma talked about several diseases like bird flu, AIDS, TB etc. and urged people to invest on their health.
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Shifting of liquor vend sought
Nurpur, April 7 The irate villagers in a combined representation submitted to the state human right commission and to the DC, Kangra, demanded either closure or shifting of the vend from the existing venue. They pleaded that contrary to the set norms of the state excise and taxation department forbidding opening of liquor vend within 100 metre radius of religious places and educational institutions the vend had been opened about 30 to 40 metre away from the local government schools and Radha Swami temple. According to social activist Rajiv Singh Jaryalsaid the location of the liquor vend was highly objectionable, as it would create public nuisance.
— OC |
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Vocational courses for cured lepers
Shimla, April 7 Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said this after laying the foundation stone of the “Surdyodaya Colony” specially designed to rehabilitate the cured lepers at an estimated cost Rs 1crore, here today. He further said the government would consider opening of vocational training centres for them so that they could be trained in one or the other self-employment avocation. He said they were also being provided leper-rehabilitation allowance to provide them financial assistance. He said the government had two dedicated hospitals at Mandodhar in Solan district and Kandwari in Kangra district for the treatment of leprosy. |
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Symposium on analytical science
Shimla, April 7 The symposium is being organised in association with the Delhi Chapter of Indian Society of Analytical Scientists. Experts in the field of analytical chemistry from India and abroad are expected to attend the event. Renowned scientists, Dr P.K. Jaiswal, Director, Agmark Laboratories, Nagpur, will inaugurate it. He is also the national president of the Indian Society of Analytical
Scientists. |
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CM a failure: Ex-minister
Sundernagar, April 7 Talking to mediapersons here, he said recently the government had made a declaration to open medical colleges at Hamirpur and Mandi, but no money had been provided for these in the budget. He accused the Chief Minister of befooling the people of lower Himachal Pradesh. He further said the present government was befooling unemployed youths by declaring posts in different departments but the posts were never filled. He demanded the resignation of Virbhadra Singh alleging that he was not able to check corruption and had failed as the Chief Minister. |
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Animals wreak havoc on crops Kumarhatti, April 7 In the past few years, boars have emerged as a major threat to crops. Farmers of the Subathu, Dharampur, Parwanoo and Nalagarh areas continue to reel under the fear of boar attack. The maize crop has faced unprecedented destruction by boars that generally attacked around midnight. Unlike for monkeys, forest range offices have no power to grant the permission to kill boar. The chief wildlife warden is the authority to grant permission in such cases.
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UK varsity degree for Resident Commissioner
Chamba, April 7 Sharma, who has a science background, recently qualified the degree during his educational tour abroad. |
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A woman was brutally murdered by two persons by chopping off her head at a private resort here late last night.
Shimla, April 7
