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BSP’s presence fuels third force talk
BJP set to finalise poll strategy
Two devtas kept out of Raghunath yatra
Police commemoration day celebrated
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Nine lakh may not be able to cast vote
BJP faces uphill task in 7 Mandi seats
Teachers gear up for Assembly poll
An effigy of Ravana goes up in flames at Jakhu Temple in Shimla on Sunday.
— Tribune photo by S. Chandan
Kullu Dussehra begins
Nathpa builds hard coating facility at project site
D.K. Soni in race for BJP ticket
Urmil, Narinder on strong footing
Himalayan language symposium
Shanta flays Virbhadra
Water crisis in Shimla
State govt responsible for no ODI in HP: HPCA
4 killed in road mishap
Youth murdered
Training camp for leaders
Cong names candidates
Camp for scouts, guides
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BSP’s presence fuels third force talk
Shimla, October 21 Efforts to form a third political front in the past to challenge the two main parties, which have been occupying the centre stage for the past three decades, have not been successful. The appearance of potential third force like the Janata Dal and the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) during Assembly elections has dented the vote banks of main parties to an extent but the politics in the state has largely remained bipolar. On many occasions, such parties provided a platform to rebels of the main parties and Independents, but failed to create a permanent space and virtually vanished from the scene by the next poll. A third force emerged on the political horizon during 1998 assembly poll when the Himachal Vikas Congress won five out of 68 seats polling 9.63 per cent votes. Party supremo Sukh Ram played the kingmaker by installing P.K. Dhumal as the Chief Minister in the wake of a hung Assembly. However, with the merger of the HVC into the Congress at the time of the last Lok Sabha elections, the third political force was eliminated from the scene. It has been observed in the past that whenever a potential third party appears in the electoral arena, the number of Independents and the votes polled by them declines sharply. Independents had been playing the role of opposition until 1977 as there was no organised opposition. For instance, in the first Assembly elections in 1952, Independents secured 26.3 per cent vote, next only to the Congress that polled 47.3 per cent. In 1967, the percentage of votes secured by Independents increased to 38.1 per cent as against 42.19 by Congress and 13.87 per cent by the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the earlier incarnation of the BJP. The process of polarisation started in 1977 when the Janata Party bagged 49.01 per cent votes to wrest power from the Congress (27.33 per cent) for the first time. The vote share of Independents declined to 21.1 per cent. It declined further to 6.10 per cent in 1990 elections mainly due to the emergence the Janata Dal that cornered 10.83 per cent votes in alliance with the BJP that secured 41.78 per cent votes. The decimation of the Janata Dal saw the vote share of Independents increase to almost 10 per cent. However, the rise of the HVC, which got 9.63 per cent vote in 1998 elections, reduced the Independents to a non-entity with their vote share plunging to 4.18 per cent, the lowest ever. The decline of the HVC, which managed only 5.87 per cent votes in 2003, led to a surge in the votes of Independents which accounted for 12.60 per cent of the total votes polled. This time, the BSP is keen to replicate its social engineering experiment that brought it to power in Uttar Pradesh, in the state. It has not only announced that it would contest all 68 seats, but also declared Vijay Singh Mankotia as it chief ministerial candidate. The party hopes to gain not only from the anti-incumbency factor against the ruling Congress, but also from the infighting in the opposition BJP. It has set its eye on Kangra, the biggest and politically the most significant district that is also the home turf of party’s state convener Mankotia. The stakes are high for the BJP as Kangra is its traditional stronghold and the party banks heavily on the district to form government. The rise of the BSP could hurt it more than the Congress that has a strong base in old Himachal areas. |
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BJP set to finalise poll strategy
Dharamsala, October 21 The central election committee of the party has already recommended names of Tejwant Negi and Chet Ram Negi for the Kinnaur constituency, Tulsi Ram and Jia Lal for the Bharmour and Ram Lal Markanday for the Lahaul-Spiti constituency. Meanwhile, the process is going on at the party mandal-level to invite applications from candidates, who are aspiring to contest the elections. The last date for inviting these applications has been fixed for October 31 with a fee of Rs 3,000 for general candidates and Rs 1,500 for SC’s and ST’s. These lists would be forwarded to the district committees before November 5, which would forward them to the state election committee before November 10. Then these recommendations will be forwarded for the consideration of the CEC which will be the final authority to announce the final candidates. Meanwhile, Kishan Kapoor, spokesman of the state unit of the party, said the party was united and was ready to face the elections. There was no dissidence within the party on any issue related to the selection process of the candidates or the leadership issue, he said.
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Two devtas kept out of Raghunath yatra
Kullu, October 21 It was for the first time that both the
devtas- Shringa Rishi from Cheni Kothi, Banjar, and Balu Nag from Banjar- had come to the Dhalpur Maidan but they were not allowed to participate in the yatra. Both were kept out due to the dispute between the two for securing the right-hand place of Lord Raghunath during the yatra. The Jamadagni devta occupied the right side along Lord Raghunath, escorted by royals of the erstwhile Kullu kingdom Maheshwar Singh and his brother Karan Singh, both BJP leaders and chief representatives of Lord Raghunath. Controversy erupted when the Pujhari Nag
(Bahu) who walked with Jamadagni Rishi accused the “karkoons of the Riyari Nag (Panch Kothi)”, of taking the devotees of Balu Nag with them and breaching the tradition. The Balu Nag had deployed its haryans to take part under the aegis of the Pujhari Nag, which did not participate in the yatra. But the devotees of Pujhari Nag clarified that they participated in the yatra because Balu Nag and Shringa Rishi did not participate. The karkoons and haryans of Shringa Rishi decided not to participate in the yatra, sidelining the presence of other devtas on the ground. “The devta did not participate in the yatra, but the devta has decided in the larger interest of the “Dev
sanskriti” as dispute has not resolved over the right place”, said Khumbh Das Dogra, a harayan and spokesperson of the Shringa Rishi. “The devta always walks on the right side of Lord Raghunath right from the start of the 17th century and this was continuing till recently”, he said, passing the buck on the karkoons and haryans of Balu Nag for not willing to accept the fact. But the karkoons and haryans of Balunag accused the district administration of hurting their religious feelings. “We wanted to participate in the yatra but the police denied us the right to participate on the right side of Lord Raghunath,” they added. They dismissed the claims of Shringa Rishi claiming that Balu Nag always took the right side
(Dhur) as the devta was the avatar of Lord Rama's younger brother Laxman. Kullu Dussehra Committee vice-president Abhishek Jain said the devtas were not invited as the dispute remained unresolved. They were not allowed to participate so as to maintain law and order, he added. Himachal Pradesh Governor V.S. Kokje, who was the chief guest, inaugurated the multi-handicapped unit at Seobag near here. Kullu MLA and agricultural minister Rajkishan Gaur along with other dignitaries watched the yatra. |
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Police commemoration day celebrated
Bilaspur, October 21 Bhandari presented an award to the district traffic in charge, Minaxi Bhardwaj, for her distinguishing services. Also present on the occasion were SP Balbir Thakur, DC Rajinder Singh, SP (retd) Sukhram Thakur and a large number of retired police officers and police personnel. A blood donation camp was also organised on the occasion. Nahan: The Sirmaur police celebrated the Police Commemoration Day at Nahan police lines today. A large number of serving and retired police officials took part in the function which was presided over by IGP (Law and Order) S. R. Mardi. Names of those para-military officials and police personnel were read out who laid down their lives fighting for the nation. Floral tributes were paid to the martyrs, their photographs were garlanded and traditional police salute with ‘Shok Shashtra’ (by turning their weapons down) was performed by the Armed police personnel. Mardi called upon the police force to keep the nation above everything in their life. Sirmaur SP said the next one week would be observed as ‘police week’ during which a number of welfare activities would be organised for the welfare of retired and serving policemen. SP Sirmaur Bindu Rani Sachdeva along with a large number of retired police officers were present on the occasion. MANDI: The IG, crimes and CID, O.C. Thakur on Sunday honoured 16 persons, including policemen, for yeoman service in the region. Those honoured included Daulat Ram, Murari Lal, Sita Ram, Brij Lal, Vivek from BSNL, Brahma Nand, for their service toward community police movement. He also honoured seven policemen for their services. They included Rajesh Kumar, SHO, Sadar, Kapur Chand, Ratan Chand, Ram Lal, Shayam Lal, Sanjay Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Sanjay Kumar and Rajesh Kumar.
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Nine lakh may not be able to cast vote
Dharamsala, October 21 With this decision of the EC, nine lakh voters across the state could miss the chance to caste their votes as the government had failed to issue them the voter I-cards. Even as the EC had made a provision for all those who had completed 18 years of age as on January 1, 2007, and were qualified to get registered as voters to get their names included in voters list by applying on form-6 available at all district and subdivision headquarters, but this would largely depend on the individual’s effort to get himself/herself included in the voters list and subsequently get the voter I-card. As per the details available from the office of the chief electoral office, presently, there were a total of 45,43,024 voters, out of which, the voter I-cards of 8,91,852 voters had not been issued by the state government. It means that 84.77 per cent of total voters possess voter I-cards. Further, the details revealed that in Shimla district 20.05 per cent, Solan 14.94 per cent, Kinnaur 13.45 per cent, Bilaspur 11.31 per cent, Sirmour 11.45 per cent, Chamba 17.42 per cent, Lahaul-Spiti 10.86 per cent, Kullu 8.67 per cent, Mandi 12.90 per cent, Hamirpur 15.45 per cent, Una 16.88 per cent and in Kangra 17.12 per cent of the voters had not been issued the voter I-cards. The EC had made provision that the rolls could be examined in the offices of electoral registration officers and also booth-level functionaries such as patwaris and panchayat secretaries being put on election duty for each polling station. Besides, the electoral rolls were also available on the department’s website. Similarly, the EC had also stated that the objections and deletions of names of the people from the electoral rolls could be made on form-7 by the interested people. These forms could be submitted in the offices of electoral registration officers-district magistrates, additional district magistrates and subdivisional magistrates up to one week before the last date of nomination.
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Allotment of Ticket Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service
Mandi, October 21 There are more than three contenders for the party ticket in the most of the constituencies, giving sleepless nights to the party high command, including party affairs in charge for Himachal Satpal Jain. Though BJP insiders claim to have resolved the confrontation in Jogindernagar and Sundernagar to some extent, the party might be compelled to allot the ticket to two veterans - former speaker Gulab Singh Thakur from Jogindernagar and former forest minister Roop Singh Thakur from Sundernagar - but in the remaining five controversial constituencies it faces an uphill task as the BSP is waiting in the wings to lure the BJP dissenters into its fold. In Drang, Jawahar Thakur and Ramesh Sharma are two main contenders for the party ticket. In Sundernagar, Rakesh Jamval, Yuva Morcha president and the righthand man of Jai Ram, is giving tough time to Roop Singh Thakur, disclosed party sources. In Nachan, Dile Ram, ex-Mandi BJP chief; Nikka Ram, a supporter of Shanta Kumar; and Damodardas, former mandal chief; have thrown in their hats in the ring.In Balh, sitting MLA Damodar and Lal Singh Desbandu are in the race while and in Karsog Mansa Ram, Lekh Raj and Hira Lal are staking their claims to the ticket. Similarly, Mandi Sadar has more than four contenders - Kanhayiya Lal, former MLA; H.R. Vaidya, former Mandi council president, Dr. RK Raju, a supporter of Shanta Kumar; and retired engineer Harish Kumar. Dhumal, who has been assigned Mandi district, addressed a workers’ meeting in Nachan on Thursday and will address another in Chachiot, the home segment of Jai Ram, towards the last week of October. Satpal Jain, who was here yesterday to take the views of the MLAs and party workers on the allotment of party tickets, said there would be no dissent as the party would allot tickets to candidates who enjoy clean image and could win regardless of any considerations whether he was old or new. He said they had asked the candidates to send their forms to the mandal presidents by October 31. “We will decide party candidates on consensus”, he claimed.
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HPU Campus Round-up Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla: With the announcement of early Assembly elections in the state, teachers of the Himachal Pradesh University are also gearing up to take a plunge into electoral politics. It is under the HP University Ordinance 35.20 that teachers are permitted to contest elections. Though till date more than six teaches have tried their luck at the hustings but not even one of them could register a victory. This time too some of the teachers are all set to try their luck. Pramod Sharma, reader in the Management Department is once again keen to try his luck from the Kumarsein-Sunni Assembly segment. Keen to get a Congress ticket, Sharma is learnt to have made up his mind to contest as an independent even if he is denied the Congress ticket. Pitted against senior Congress leader, Vidya Stokes, he enjoys the blessings of the Chief Minister and would definitely try his luck in seeking a party ticket. During the last Assembly poll Sharma had contested as an independent candidate against Stokes and had given an impressive performance by securing over 13,000 votes. Another teacher, Prof R.S. Chauhan, deputy director of the Physical Education department is all set to make his political debut. He is preparing to contest on the BSP ticket from the Jogindernagar constituency. Prof Shiv Raj Singh had also jumped into the fray on the Samajwadi party ticket from Nahan constituency on being denied the Congress ticket. Majority of the university teachers have so far shown keenness to contest on a Congress ticket and there have been few takes for the BJP or other political parties. HPU convocation
The HPU will hold its convocation on November 7. Eminent legal luminary and the Union minister for Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal will be the chief guest at the convocation. The Academic Staff College of the HPU is holding a seminar on improving the gross enrolment ratio (GER) of the deprived sections of the students in the educational institutions. More than 30 academicians from all over the country are expected to attend the seminar, being organised under the aegis of Knowledge Commission of India. The seminar will focus on inclusive growth of students from the scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, OBC and other deprived sections of society. The participants will also deliberate on attaining excellence in academics and quality education. Rs 32-lakh grant
The Institute of Tribal Studies at the HPU has received a grant of Rs 32.33 lakh from the union ministry of Tribal Affairs for infrastructure building and research. The Honorary Director of the Institute, Prof Suresh Kumar informed that a sum of Rs 12 lakh each would be spent on infrastructure and construction. “A sum of Rs seven lakh has been given for research and a study is already underway on the implementation of the reservation for ST in the state,” he informed. He said a national level seminar would be held shortly in the campus. The Institute was set up by the state government in the year 1994 and has been focusing on social and cultural life of tribesman and various issues concerning them. |
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Dussehra celebrated with fervour
Shimla, October 21 Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was joined by his MP wife Pratibha Singh in offering prayers to start the traditional Dussehra celebration at the famous Bhimakali temple at Sarahan in Rampur today. He paid obeisance at the temple and participated in different devotional services. Virbhadra Singh performed puja in the newly restored temple. The ceremony was attended by a large number of local deities accompanied by hundreds of devotees. With this, the nine-day “Navratri” fair also concluded. Chamba: Dussehra festival was observed here today. The effigies of Ravana, Meghnath and Kumbhkaran were burnt in the middle of the heritage Chowgan of Chamba town with the bursting of firecrackers. On this auspicious occasion, the local ancient temples were decorated and worship of Durga Mata was the main attraction for the devotees. |
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Kullu Dussehra begins
Kullu, October 21 The festivities started with arrival of goddess Hadimba from Manali and other deities in palanquins accompanied by huge processions. Governor V. S. Kokje, who was present on the occasion, witnessed the parade, in which about 250 gods and goddesses took part. The idol of Lord Raghunathji was brought from the Sultanpur temple located in the palace of erstwhile ruler of Kullu and taken in the procession. Instead of burning of effigies on the concluding day of the Kullu Dussehra, five animals are sacrificed at the banks of the Beas before goddess Hadimba returns to her abode Manali and Lord Raghunathji is again seated in the temple. Besides, traditional songs and dance programmes, Bollywood singer Shreya Goshal is expected to regale the audience.
— UNI |
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Nathpa builds hard coating facility at project site
Shimla, October 21 The Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), which runs the project, has imported state-of-the-art equipment for the purpose comprising a six-axis thermal spray robot from Germany. This will obviate the necessity of sending such components to the outside project area for hard coating. With the in-house facility, the project will carry out hard coating job on the components damaged by silt as and when required through out the year. Hitherto, the components were to be transported out of the state for repair and hard coating. The facility will also be used for research work to develop new coating solutions against silt erosion for projects in the Himalayan region to help increase the longevity of underwater parts. After commissioning of the facility, the project will be able to hard coat even the heaviest components such as runners weighing around 40 tonne in the workshop. At present, these could not be hard coated because of the transportation constraints. This will further minimise the downtime for maintenance of the generating units. Being a run-of-the-year project with limited storage capacity, silt has been a major problem causing frequent shutdown. When the facility becomes fully operational other hydropower projects coming up in the Sutlej basin will also be able to utilise this facility to maximise generation. |
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D.K. Soni in race for BJP ticket
Chamba, October 21 Moreover, Soni had said earlier that he was constantly in touch with senior leaders of the state BJP, including former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and had a dialogue with them for getting a party ticket for contesting the elections from the Chamba Assembly constituency after he resigned from the post of the government. “I am confident of my victory in the ensuing assembly elections because of my standing in the area”, Soni claimed Meanwhile, former chairman of zila parishad Des Raj Sharma, Umesh Vaid, son of late Kishori Lal, a former minister and Naresh Mahajan, district BJP media in charge, were also reportedly trying for the ticket. B.K. Chauhan whose name is already on the top for the party ticket had earlier contested elections from the Chamba constituency in February, 2003 assembly elections but was defeated by Harsh Mahajan of the Congress.
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Urmil, Narinder on strong footing
Hamirpur, October 21 While every body was taken aback here when on Wednesday, they not only held a joint press conference staking the claim for the BJP ticket from Hamirpur Assembly constituency but also resolved to work in unison to claim a ticket for the one of the descendants of late Thakur Jagdev Chand. Both had lost during the last assembly election at the hands of the Congress candidate while contesting against each other. Urmil contested as the BJP candidate and Narinder as an independent , which had not only created a split in Thakur Jagdev Chand’s support base but also in the family. The divide between the two started getting dipper when BJP ticket was given to Narinder Thakur and he lost to Anita verma of Congress in 1994 by-election by a slander margin of 600 votes. Taking a lesson from the 2003 defeat now both family members of late Thakur Jagdev Chand, seem to have realised that interests of both of them would be harmed if spilt in the family continued.
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Himalayan language symposium
Shimla, October 21 The symposium is devoted to the study of Himalayan languages and language communities which make up the complex ethno-linguistic tapestry of the Indo-Chinese borderlands, a vast territory extending from the Caspian into mainland South-east Asia. It serves as a podium for contributions on languages of the region, whether “Burushaski,
Kusunda”, a Tibeto-Burman language, or Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the Himalyan belt. Linguists and specialists from disciplines like philology, history, anthropology, archaeology and prehistory make their contributions in the study of Himalayan languages. The symposium will be attended by more than 50 scholars from countries like the USA,
Netherland, Japan, China, Nepal and India. Scholars will discuss various aspects of Himalayan languages such as phonology,
morphosyntax, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, semantics, lexical studies, and mother-tongue education. It will be inaugurated by the vice-chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University, Anil Wilson. Renowned sociolinguist
L.M. Khubchandaniby would also be present. |
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Shanta flays Virbhadra
Palampur, October 21 He said the statement was not only uncalled for but also unconstitutional. Addressing mediapersons at his residence, he claimed that the BJP would sweep the elections and the Congress would not be able to get even 15 seats in the state. He said the tenure of the Congress had witnessed large-scale corruption in the administration, unusual hike in the prices of essential commodities. The party would have to pay for it, he said. Referring to the decision of the Congress to launch its election campaign from Nagrota Bagwan on October 25, he said instead of initiating action against G.S. Bali, the Chief Minster had chosen his constituency for launching the campaign of the party. He said Virbhadara Singh had been well conversant with the shady deals of Bali for the past four years, but could not take any action as Bali had become fund manager of the party. |
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Shimla, October 21 The water supply to various localities of the town was affected after the two water pumps at the khud stopped lifting water simultaneously, Shimla Municipal Corporation mayor Kataria said. He said a new pump had been bought from Chandigarh to replace the ageing ones and would be installed by tomorrow evening following which regular drinking water supply would be restored to parts of the town. The main cause of water crisis was a disruption in the main water supply at Churhat Khud six days ago. The repair work would be completed in the next five to six days and till then water rationing would continue, he said. He said the officials were working round the clock to restore regular water supply. — UNI
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State govt responsible for no ODI in HP: HPCA
Dharamsala, October 21 No ODI match has been allotted to Dharamsala because the state government paid no attention to its consistent demand of improving the conditions of the roads, despite the cricket ground being considered as one the best grounds in the world, HPCA president Anurag Thakur told mediapersons at Dehra in the district. He said if the Virbhadra Singh government shown some interest, an international cricket match would have been held years ago. Following the improved performance of the cricketers from the state, the HPCA has decided to open cricket academies in several parts of the state. — UNI
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4 killed in road mishap
Kullu, October 21 Ramdas (43) and Sant Ram (48) died on the spot, while Laldas and Shiv Ram, died on the way to the zonal hospital Mandi and latter on the way to regional hospital Kullu. The injured were admitted to the regional hospital, Kullu, while Thakurdas (50), was referred to the PGI. The doctors attending on them said condition of the two patients was stable but serious, and other four patients were out of danger. A case has been registered. |
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Youth murdered
Una, October 21 Harsh Vardhan, a resident of the Chattarpur village of the district, was invited by his friend to Santoshgarh, where he was beaten to death. The police has arrested Ashu Puri and Raj Bir, both residents of Santoshgarh, for their role in boy’s death.
— UNI |
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Training camp for leaders
Chamba, October 21 It will be attended by the mandal heads of constituencies, executive members and office-bearers of the BJP’s urban and rural units. More than 200 activists and leaders of Chamba district are expected to participate in the camp.
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Cong names candidates
Shimla, October 21 The party has decided to field Phunchuk Rai instead of sitting legislator Raghuvir Singh from Lahaul-Spiti, while it has re-nominated T.S. Bharmouri from Bharmour and Jagat Singh Negi from Kinnaur. |
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Camp for scouts, guides
Dharamsala, October 21 The camp for scouts was inaugurated by Lieut-Col Sidh Gopal (SOI) Edn. 9 Corps. Principal of the school, Palampur, H.P. Singh was present on the occasion.
— TNS |
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Chamba: In a major breakthrough curbing the charas smuggling in Chamba district, the Himachal Pradesh police has nabbed two persons identified as Mohinder and Surinder of Ludhiana and seized 3 kg charas from their possession. — OC
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