Shimla, July 10
Amidst controversy, the CPMT being conducted by the HPU has forced the authorities to revise the entire merit list.

With the high court decision given by the Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Deepak Gupta and Mr Justice Sanjay Karol directing the HPU to declare the result on the Internet by July 12 and publish it in the newspapers the next day. The authorities are working overtime to meet the deadline.

The court has set the deadline of July 12 in order to ensure that some of the students who could make it to the merit list in the Himachal CPMT are saved from making huge payment at other colleges outside the state where the dates for counselling have already been fixed.

The first counseling for HP CPMT is to be held between July 16 to 21. A total of 5,200 students had taken the examination.

After last year’s PMT question-paper leak which led to the holding of fresh examination, this year, wrong key answers to two questions and three wrong answers has led to the revising of the merit list.

The HPU has been forced to revise the merit list following petitions being filed by three students who had appeared in the examination in the high court. The university authorities are engaged in the process of revising the merit list.

The court agreed that question number 155 and 156 were totally wrong, while the key answer to three questions (72, 78 and 97) were wrong. As such, question numbers 155 and 156 have been deleted while some of the students who have got negative marking for the three questions which had wrong answers would stand to benefit while some others could even lose a seat in the medical or dental college.

With five questions coming under scrutiny, there could be a huge difference in the merit list and the students who appeared in the examination could gain or lose up to 20 marks, which would make all the difference.

The HPU officials said with the wrong answers being deleted, candidates would get marks out of 798 and not 800 marks.

The admissions to Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda, Kangra, Government Dental College, Shimla, and all other private colleges affiliated to the HPU are made on the basis of the CPMT examination.

Dharamsala, July 10
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests today gave a written undertaking to the central empowered committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court that it had cancelled the clearance accorded for the controversial parking-cum-hotel site at McLeodganj and would ask the state government to demolish the structure as soon as possible.

Ritwick Dutta, counsel for the petitioners, a Dharamsala-based environmentalist Atul Bhardwaj and Samir Mehta from the Bombay Environment Action Group, said the case came up for hearing before the CEC in which district magistrate of Kangra Bharat Khera was asked to personally appear. The DM informed the five-member committee that the construction work on the controversial site had already been stopped by the administration.

The committee said it would visit the site and look into the construction activity going on there. A series of transfers and leases of the land between state departments and agencies, and eventually to a private developer, facilitated the construction of structures there. Forestland was allegedly illegally transferred or leased to the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department. The HRTC in turn leased the land to the Himachal Pradesh Bus Stand Management and Development Authority, which further leased it to the Prashanti Surya Construction Company for developing a bus stand and a hotel-cum-car parking lot on BOT basis.

It was stated before the committee that 0.48 hectare land was diverted by the Forest Department for constructing a bus stand, the permission for which was given by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2001 vide letter No. 9-559-ROC/295 dated March 1, 2001.

Another piece of land measuring 0.093 hectares was also reserved in 1997 for constructing a parking lot, the permission for which was also given by the union ministry.

However, instead of sticking to the construction of a bus stand and a parking lot, the company also raised a multistorey building above the parking space without any permission from the union ministry for the change of land use.

After the construction work on the hotel began, the state government forwarded another request to the ministry to grant permission for constructing a commercial complex above the parking place so as to make the project economically viable, but the ministry today made it clear before the CEC that it had turned down the approval.

Shimla, July 10
There is a high probability of election forecasts going haywire under the current models but banning pre-poll surveys was no solution, asserts Yogendra Yadav, a well-known psephologist.

“Poll forecasting is still in its infancy in the country and the electronic media has also not come of age. The two infants have come out with an “immature” product which attracts so much attention that the whole picture gets distorted” Yadav, who is in the city in connection with the two-week summer school on “Research methodology in political science” being held at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, told The Tribune.

What worried him as a political scientist was that there has been no worthwhile improvement in methodology and techniques used for conducting surveys over the past two decades. At the same time there had been a phenomenal increase in the coverage of opinion polls in the media, particularly TV channels.

He felt that there was not only urgent need for improving methodology and techniques but also for laying down some “external” norms for such surveys to ensure transparency in the whole exercise. It would be appropriate if the media itself came out with a code for election-related opinion polls.

The code should make it mandatory for the agency conducting the survey to make public the source of its funding and political affiliation, if any. The basic methodology, sample size, the sampling technique and the social profile of the sample should also be disclosed. Further, an independent agency like the Press Council of India should have the authority to examine the data files relating to the survey.

He said print media had also been indulging in poll forecasting for a long time and most of the time its predictions were wrong. However, it did not attract criticism like the election surveys of electronic media, mainly because it never made prediction in numbers. 

Dharamsala, July 10
Six ultrasound machines being operated illegally by ayurvedic practitioners in Kangra district were sealed in the past few days. Legal action was being mooted in the case. Show-cause notices had also been issued to private clinics having 22 ultrasound machines to submit the details of their registration and tests conducted in the recent past along with the particulars of the staff operating them.

The machines had been sealed as the ayurvedic practitioners were not eligible to operate them as per the PNDT Act in the absence of an experienced radiologist

CMO Jaswant Singh Chandel said action was taken against these clinics following directions of the apex court. These machines had been sealed as the ayurvedic practitioners were not eligible to operate them as per the PNDT Act in the absence of an experienced radiologist. The PNDT Act allows only radiologists and MBBS or specialist doctors having a six-months diploma or one-year experience to operate these machines. It may be mentioned that 42 ultrasound machines were operational in the district, 13 of them in government hospitals.

Many private practitioners install cheap ultrasound machines for conducting illegal sex-determination tests. Local NGO 'Jagori' recently conducted a survey in three blocks of the district and exposed the alarming level of female foeticide in villages falling under these blocks.

Sarika Katoch, a local social activist, felt that the Health Department should do much more than just sealing these machines in order to check the declining sex ratio in the district.

Mandi, July 10
As many as 19 cases, most of them related to matrimonial and propriety disputes, including sexual harassment, came before the state commission for women here today. Out of the 19 cases that came up for the hearing, today the commission settled six cases.

The harassment at workplace in many cases leads to matrimonial disharmony at home for working couples, the state women commission said here today.

As many as 19 cases, most of them related to matrimonial and propriety disputes, including sexual harassment came before the state commission for women here today.

HP State Commission for Women, chairperson Krishna Tandon said, “Matrimonial disharmony was on the rise, partly because working women faced sexual harassment at the workplace. This was because of a lack of adjustment between husband and wife or due to demanding in-laws or husbands or even wives”. Some working women are harassed by the male colleagues or officers on petty matters like getting government accommodation, TA/DA and other petty matters, she said.

“In many cases, women are beaten up by their alcoholic husbands. In some cases, even parents of husbands support their daughter-in-law, which is a positive development”. Tandon said.

Nurpur, July 10
Scores of displaced families of Jawali and Dehra subdivisions of Kangra district, which were uprooted after their immovable properties were acquired for the construction of Pong Dam more that 35 years ago, are still running from pillar to post for their rehabilitation in Rajasthan.

Oustees, who were allotted land in Sriganganagar and Bikaner districts of Rajasthan, are finding it difficult to protect their land from the clutches of the land mafia active in that state

Oustees, who were allotted land in Sriganganagar and Bikaner districts of Rajasthan, are finding it difficult to protect their land from the clutches of the land mafia active in that state.

The plight of Bimla Devi, widow of Ratan Chand of Harsar village in Jawali subdivision who had been allotted “murrabba” (land) number 127/62, Chak number 5 SKMB in Gharsana in Sriganganagar, is only a tip of the iceberg. Inquiries reveal that after the death of Ratan Chand in 1997, the land was mutated in favour of his wife Bimla Devi, son Vishal Kumar, daughters Anita and Sarita. Bimla Devi was empowered to look after and cultivate the land by other co-sharers by executing a general power of attorney (GPA) in her favour.

Bimla said that in her absence the land mafia executed a GPA on behalf of the owners of the murrabba in favour of one Surinder Singh, alias Chhinda, a local resident. On the basis of that GPA, Surinder sold the land by executing a sale deed in favour of Kalawati, wife of Bhoop Ram, by receiving Rs 4 lakh on June 8, 2006. She said the buyer of the land, along with over 20 musclemen descended on the land, to take its forcible possession. The bid was, however, foiled. The GPA and the sale deed were executed in the presence of fake witnesses.

After running from pillar to post to seek justice, she filed an application in a court at Gharsana in Rajasthan seeking the registration of a forgery case against the accused who had conspired to grab her land.

Following a direction from the court, the Gharsana police recently registered an FIR under Sections 419, 468, 471 and 120 (B) of the IPC against Surinder Singh and Kalawati, along with eight other persons allegedly involved in the forgery.

Meanwhile, Bimla Devi has also submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and narrated her tale of woe. She has demanded protection of her property and lives of her family members who were receiving threats from the land mafia there.

Hamirpur, July 10
Hundreds of women activists of the CITU-affiliated Anganwari and Helpers Union today observed a strike in all projects of Hamirpur district and held a protest march and a rally to highlight their demands.

They marched to Deputy Commissioner's office, shouting slogans against the government.

Later, a rally was also held which was addressed, among others, by CITU secretary Kashmir Thakur. It demanded that the government should declare these workers as government employees and provide them all facilities.

The union also submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh through the district administration, demanding that the child development project should be converted into a government department and they should be paid at par with other employees.

The union demanded that the anganwari workers and helpers should be paid monthly emoluments of Rs 2,900 and Rs 1,500, respectively, on the pattern of Uttarakhand.

Nahan: Around 200 anganwari workers took out a rally in support of their long-pending demands here on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the deputy commissioner, Sirmour. Under the leadership of Saroj Sharma, president of the Anganwari Workers and Helpers Union’, anganwari workers assembled at Katcha Tank and took out a rally up to the office of the Deputy Commissioner. Workers shouted slogans against the state and union governments and demanded all facilities, pay and allowances at par with their government counterparts. 

Solan, July 10
Vijay Kumar, a cafe owner, was shot at from point-blank range by three unidentified youths at Mihani village, near Chail, around 9 pm yesterday. While one bullet went past his left ear, the second one hit the roof as he managed to divert the direction of the revolver.

The youths reportedly came to the outlet and demanded two bottles of Fanta and a packet of chips. Since it was time to shut the café, Vijay asked them to hurry up, but the youths first pulled chairs and sat down. Later, they got up and went towards Vijay brandishing revolvers.

While one of them pointed the weapon on his temple, another aimed on his face. Vijay, however, managed to move the first revolver away from his temple and the bullet fired from it hit the roof. The second bullet fired by the other youth went past Vijay’s face leaving pellet injuries on his face and ear.

The accused had come on a bike (CHO-1H-1114). They tried to flee after the incident, but they were attacked by two local youths, who were sitting outside the café, with stones. The third youth standing outside the café also fired a shot in the air to scare the onlookers.

Their attempt to flee on the bike was unsuccessful as it slipped and fell down. The accused then ran towards the Jhajja road. Vijay’s uncle Devinder informed the police and also tried to follow the accused in his car. After running for almost one km, the youth fled towards the nearby thick forest.

Despite laying nakas in the area and carrying out combing operations throughout the night, the police could not nab them. A case has been registered.

Shimla, July 10
Additional district and sessions judge Rajan Gupta today convicted Amar Bahadur on the charge of murder and sentenced him for life besides a fine of Rs 10,000.

Amar Bahadur, a resident of Agla Bag village under the Dhalli police station, had murdered Daulat Ram, alias Nanu, of the same village by repeatedly hitting him with a “khilna” on May 28, 2006. In case of default of payment of fine, the convict will have to undergo further imprisonment for two years. — TNS

Kumarhatti, July 10
A poverty-stricken man ended his life by jumping from a double-storeyed building at Baddi today. Pramood Kumar (55), who hailed from Ropar, had got the job of a cashier in an under-construction hotel yesterday. He was reportedly in depression due to his poor financial condition.

During the night, he first tried to hang himself, but could not do so as some labourers reached there. Later, around 3 am, he climbed to the top floor of building and jumped.

The body was noticed in the morning. The family of the deceased has ruled out the possibility of any foul play behind the incident. The body was later handed over to the family.