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10 human skulls found
Forest Cover
Paonta Dental College
Few takers for Tanda medical college postings
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Anti-encroachment staff forced to return
Ruckus in college over salary
Woman killed in leopard attack
Internet users face harrowing time
Villagers oppose land acquisition
CJ roots for early e-courts project
Woman commits suicide
Oustees’ case to be pleaded with Rajasthan
Property destroyed in forest fires
Jain defends Anurag
Munish Murder
Stone laid for Raj Bhawan admn block
March to demand govt medical college
Shimla’s hottest day
Accused held in murder case
Saurabh Van Vihar gutted
Chandel to work for Thakur’s victory
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10 human skulls found
Mandi, May 4 Though the police have ruled out the possibility of any recent connection of human skulls related to any murder or so, the discovery has spawned a hectic discussion among historians and cultural pundits over this discovery of 10 human skulls found buried in the premises of the fort. According to historians, Ishwari Sen built the fort in 1625 AD at an accessible place to store the treasury of the then kings of Mandi state. Kangra’s King Sansar Chand eyed its treasure and hatched conspiracy to capture the fort but the attempt was foiled. They added that Sen’s forces defeated them and killed some of Sen’s traitors and soldiers of Sansar Chand. “These human skulls could have been dumped in the premises which have been disintegrated over the years,” they said. As per the history of the Mandi state, the Sihks under general Benchura of Maharaja Ranjit held the fort for six years from 1840-1846. But Raja Balbir Sen sought the help of the British and freed the fort later.” The historians pointed out that the heads of the enemies of the Raja, which were killed were dumped in the premises. “The treasury of the kings was stored in the Kamlah Fort which was located in an inaccessible place,” revealed historians. The discovery of Human skull came to light today when a farmer dug up the part of the land near the fort and stumbled upon the human skulls. He then informed the police. Mandi SP M. Chandra Sekhar said the human skulls appeared to be of the old time. “These were disintegrated beyond recognition. We are asking the forensic experts and archaeologists to examine the human skulls,” he added. |
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State to seek special aid of Rs 10,000 cr
Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 4 In the memorandum to be presented to the commission it had been worked out that the state was losing forest revenue to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore annually due to self-imposed moratorium on green felling. It also sought carbon credits for maintaining the green cover and the total amount works out at over Rs 10,000 crore. The state also maintains that its share in central taxes was woefully low at .5 per cent and it should be creased to 2 per cent through a favourable dispensation. Besides, it had also reiterated the common demand that the share of states in the central taxes be raised from the present 30.5 per cent to 50 per cent. The memorandum also includes demand for funding some special projects like the Rs 715-crore Shimla gravity water supply scheme which will bring water of the Pabbar river through a 185 km gravity pipeline. Similarly, Rs 700 crore has been sought for construction of an airport in the Balh valley of Mandi. It also includes a demand for financial assistance to enable the state to contribute its share of 25 per cent towards the cost of the Rs 1045 crore Bhanupali-Beri rail project. A sum of Rs 1150 crore has been demanded for urban local bodies which are reeling under a financial crunch. According to sources, the total amount sought for the 2010-15 period adds up to over Rs 55,000 crore and the main deficit has been on account of increasing burden of salaries and pension. For the current year alone, the expenditure on this account is Rs 4300 crore and with the implementation of the recommendations of the Pay Commission during the period it would go up sharply. The commission normally goes by the set norms and guidelines and makes recommendations accordingly. For instance, the government had projected a demand for Rs 31,500 crore before the 12th Finance Commission but it recommended devolution of only Rs 13,500 crore. The commission, headed by Dr Vijay Kelkar, is expected to visit the state to hold discuss the memorandum from June 6 to 8.
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Teacher among 9 held in student’s suicide case
S.R. Pundir
Nahan, May 4 Those arrested by the police included teachers, students and other employees of the institute. Their names figured in the suicide note recovered from Trishana’s room yesterday. Two accused, however, managed to flee from Paonta after coming to know that their names figured in the suicide note. An FIR was registered against 11 persons yesterday. Trishana hailed from Shimla. Yesterday, Trishana’s mother Saroj Negi came here to collect the luggage of her daughter from her room. During this process, she found a suicide note wrapped in a blanket. The suicide note said 11 persons, including collage staff, teachers and some senior students of the college, were responsible for her death. DSP V.S. Thakur said an FIR had been registered against the persons named in the suicide note. He said it had been established in the preliminary inquiry that she was being continuously tortured by the persons named in the suicide note. Around 20 persons were summoned to the Paonta police station for the interrogation. Those arrested were Balvinder Kaur (warden of the women’s hostel), Navjot Kaur, Aditi, Haranchal, Anoop Kaur, Ravneet Singh (all second-year students), Ajita (first-year student), Upender Singh Dhall (a teacher) and Krishan Kumar Khetrapal (an executive in the college). A teacher and a student, whose name had figured in the suicide note, managed to escape from the town, the DSP said. Police parties had been sent to arrest them, he added. Statements of several persons had been recorded so far. Parul said she was tortured and made to pay thousands of rupees as ‘fine’. She said she and her roommate, Trishana, had once thought of committing suicide together. Thakur said the police had recovered a suicide note from her room earlier also, but she had not named anyone in that note. The note had been sent for the opinion of a handwriting expert.
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Few takers for Tanda medical college postings
Shimla, May 4 Though the state government has decided to create separate cadres of the IGMC and Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College at Tanda in Kangra, the problem being faced is that more than 75 per cent of the doctors and paramedical staff are keen to be absorbed at the IGMC. The matter will shortly be placed before the Cabinet after which option will be sought from all doctors and paramedics. Another problem is that with majority of the employees keen to stay at the IGMC, Tanda medical college could run into trouble. As such, the government will give special financial and promotional benefit to those who are presently working at the IGMC, but opt to work at Tanda. Those already working at Tanda will not be given any benefit. “Though we have yet to get formal options of the doctors, none is keen to go there for professional and personal reasons, barring those who belong to the Kangra area,” said an official. Those doctors and other staff at Tanda who give their option for being absorbed at the IGMC will be sent to the state capital on promotion and this will also depend on the availability of vacancies. During this waiting period, the employee concerned will not be entitled to any benefits. At present, there are 30 departments at the IGMC, including five super-speciality departments. Despite a total of 179 sanctioned posts of doctors, only 110 are filled. This includes 42 posts of professors, 54 posts of associate professors and 83 posts of assistant professors. On the other hand, Tanda medical college has only 15 departments. Most of these are short of staff and out of about 100 sanctioned posts of doctors, only half have been filled.
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Encroachers eating into road
Palampur, May 4 Despite instructions from the state government and orders of the high court to remove encroachments from along highways, the administration and the national highway authorities seem unconcerned to the situation. On Mandi-Pathankot national highway is one of the busiest roads in the town. Over 50 fruit vendors and vegetable sellers have encroached upon the road which generally leads to traffic jams. The municipal council and the administration have not initiated any steps to remove encroachments over the past two years. The number of encroachers is increasing by the day. Most of these vendors enjoy political patronage. Obviously, no one dares to ask them to shift to some other place. Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that the municipal council was illegally charging Rs 50 daily from the these vendors despite the fact that this land belonged to the NH division of the PWD. Since the vendors were making payments to the municipal council, they were now claiming their right to operate along the highway. The width of the road had been reduced to 2.5 m the Ghuggar area as a number of shops had come up on its both side over the past few years. The PWD had failed serve even a simple notice on the encroachers. An MC official said the council was in search of land to rehabilitate these vendors. As and when some land was made available, the vendors sitting along the national highway would be shifted, he said. |
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Anti-encroachment staff forced to return
Kumarhatti, May 4 In fact, two teams of the administration had restarted the anti-encroachment drive. While one team moved towards Vardhman Chowk, the other went towards the main market. As soon as the team comprising revenue, TCP and police officials started picking up goods lying on the road in the main market, some shopkeepers raised objection. The verbal duels soon turned aggressive and agitated shopkeepers even manhandled a TCP official. They unloaded the seized materials from tractor-trailer. Sensing trouble, Nalagarh SDM Manmohan Sharma asked the team to return. The shopkeepers raised slogans against drive. They flayed the BJP government for creating unnecessary troubles for traders. The administration later filed a complaint against over 10 shopkeepers for causing obstruction in the work of government officials. A case has been registered. The SDM said the things were put under control before they could turn ugly. He confirmed
that an official was manhandled by shopkeepers. The other team, which went towards Vardhman Chowk, cleared
over 40 encroachments. |
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Ruckus in college over salary
Kangra, May 4 Dr Sanjeev Raj, president of the state Non-Government College Lecturers Association local unit, said yesterday that the situation became tense when the officiating principal of the college, R.K.
Ohri, refused to meet the teaching staff. The lecturers approached local SDM Pardeep Kumar Thakur for his intervention so that the principal allows them to meet him to know about the delay in their salaries. Thakur said the college had not received the grant-in-aid from the government for quite sometime and the college management was not in a position to give them salaries. He, however, said there might be some internal conflict between the officiating principal and his staff and so he may not be meeting the staff. Lecturers called upon two local managing committee members S.C. Uppal and Subhash Bashin but they too could not break the stalemate and failed to make the principal to meet his staff. It was on the intervention of the SDM when the principal assured Dr Sanjeev Raj on phone that their salaries would be deposited in their accounts. According to Sanjeev Raj it was only after heated argument in his office yesterday that the principal deposited their salaries in their account. Meanwhile, the state government today released Rs 1.15 crore as grant-in-aid for the college. M.L.
Arey, director of DAV Colleges in the country, said, “I have no information about these developments and I would get back to the college to get a feed back and would look in to the matter.” |
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Woman killed in leopard attack
Mandi, May 4 Husband of the victim Daulat Ram said his wife was grazing her herd in the jungle when the leopard hiding in the bush attacked the herd and held a goat. On seeing this she tried to save the goat and was pushed 60 ft down into the gorge and died on the spot, he claimed. Mandi conservator of forests B.D. Suyal said they were awaiting for the medical report of the victim to ascertain whether she died due to the leopard attack or not. We would give compensation of Rs 1 lakh if it is found that she died due to the leopard attack. A goat was also found killed at the spot.
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Internet users face harrowing time
Mandi, May 4 The most hit are the mediapersons, online traders and cybercafé owners and their clients, including students, medical representatives. BSNL has failed to provide a smooth connectivity for the last three days, rued Ajay Kumar and Vinod the net users in the town. “Even online trading has been hit here,” complained Inderjit, an online trader. “The Internet has become a persisting problem hitting my business as websites do not open due to problem in connectivity,” rued Punit Kapur, a cybercafé owner in the town. The Internet users almost fend for themselves on Saturday and Sunday as BSNL staff has a six-day week. There is nobody we can contact in the office after 5.30 pm even during the working days, rued subscribers. SDE Internet in charge, BSNL Mandi, Pushpa Pathak, said there was no problem as such in the connectivity as nobody had brought this to her knowledge so far. “I have contacted Shimla. We found no problem in Internet as servers are running properly,” she claimed.
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Villagers oppose land acquisition
Kumarhatti, May 4 In a meeting with administration officials today, hundreds of villagers lodged their objections to the government move. They pledged to not to give their land to the government at any cost. The land supposed to be acquired for industrial purpose was agriculture land, said Anil Sharma, BDC member from the Bagheri panchayat. Most of it was irrigated land and setting up industry here would not be right, he said. Forcible acquisition of land would not be allowed at any cost, asserted Gurdial Singh, pradhan of the Bagheri panchayat. Both panchayats handed over their resolutions passed against the acquisition move to the administration team for forwarding these to the Chief Minister. The administration team comprised the DC, Solan, the GM, Solan Industries, the member secretary, Single Window Clearance Agency, Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh, and the SDM, Nalagarh.
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CJ roots for early e-courts project
Shimla, May 4 Presiding over a meeting in respect of computerisation of the District Courts and subordinate courts in the state, he also emphasised the importance of e-courts and videoconferencing. Chairman of the E-committee of the Supreme Court of India Justice P.K. Balasubramanyam also emphasised on the technical aspects of site preparation and providing videoconferencing facility during the trial of a case to curtail delays in cases. He also exhorted the District and Sessions Judges to implement the e-courts project. Registrar (Vigilance) of the high court K.L. Sharma said the main thrust of the meeting was to appreciate the problems faced by the district judiciary in implementation of the e-courts project and to impress upon the District and Sessions Judges the urgency of the need for its implementation. The meeting was attended by all District and Sessions Judges of the state judiciary. Judges of the high court were also present.
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Woman commits suicide
Kangra, May 4 According to the Jawalamukhi police, Kunta Devi of Gehra village lodged a complaint with the police that her daughter, Promila, alias Babli, died after consuming poison at her in-laws’ house in Panjara village yesterday as she was fed up with the torture over dowry. The parents had no complaint against her husband, Krishen Gopal. The body was sent for a post-mortem examination and a case registered. The police has arrested her father-in-law Kashmir Singh, mother-in-law Jagira Devi and brother-in-law Sanjay Kumar in this connection. Promila was married to Krishen Gopal of Panjara village five years back. |
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Oustees’ case to be pleaded with Rajasthan
Shimla, May 4 A sub-committee would shortly be constituted to prepare their demands so that the same could be discussed with the Rajasthan government. He said the Supreme Court had directed Rajasthan to provide 1188 murabaas of land to the oustee families but these people were yet to get their legitimate rights. |
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Property destroyed in forest fires
Kangra, May 4 According to reports, unidentified persons set fire in three different forest areas under the Dehra police station last night and property worth Rs 10,35,000 was destroyed. The police said these fires were reported from the forests of Sansarpur Tarece, Challan and Kotla of the Dehra subdivision. The fire was controlled after the firemen fought the flames till late night. The police said Mulak Raj of Sukhnala village informed them that some unidentified persons put the forest wealth to fire.
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Jain defends Anurag
Bilaspur, May 4 The Congress should not forget Pratibha Kumari, MP, and brother of state Congress president Viplov Thakur, who is now an MLA. How could the Congress defend itself on such party tickets? Jain asked. Jain exhorted the party workers to go to every household to apprise people of the decisions taken by the Dhumal government for the welfare of the weaker sections, youth, women, etc so that Anurag Thakur could win by a huge margin. |
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Pistol, mobile phone recovered
Tribune News Service
Hamirpur, May 4 Hamirpur SP Asif Jalal said during interrogation of Beeru Kishor, who was nabbed along with his brothers on Friday for kidnapping and murdering Munish, told of possessing an illegal arm, which was recovered by a police party in Bohn Patti village of Hoshiarpur district. He said the police recovered the mobile phone used in the crime from his place and he had burnt the SIM card as per his statement.
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Stone laid for Raj Bhawan admn block
Shimla, May 4 As it is a heritage structure which completed 175 years early this year, the Cabinet granted permission to build the block on the old lines. Initially there was also a proposal for building a guesthouse, an entirely new structure, but as the site fell in a heritage zone where new construction is not permitted, the proposal was withdrawn. The block will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 97.74 lakh over an area of 495.76 square metres to house the offices, among others, of under secretary, section officers, besides seven garages and a dormitory. Lady Governor Leena Kokje, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, Speaker Tulsi Ram PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur, Chief Secretary Ravi Dhingra and other senior officers were present.
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March to demand govt medical college
Mandi, May 4 Spokesperson of the samiti Sunder Lahia said the government had not taken note of the fast in which representatives from 50 different organisations had participated recently. “Through this protest march, we reiterate our demand for a government medical college,” he added. He said the state government should clear its stand on the issue. He said they would stage a rally at the Seri Munch on May 24 in support of their demand.
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Shimla’s hottest day
Shimla, May 4 Yesterday, the maximum temperature at Shimla was 28.1°C, while it was 42.2°C at Una. The day temperature at Sundernagar rose to 39.4°C as against yesterday’s 38. 9°C, while the maximum temperature at Bhuntar stood at 36°C. Shimla also recorded the warmest night of the season at 18.8°C last night. Yesterday, the town had recorded a night temperature of 18.3°C. The night temperature at Sundernagar rose to 16.2°C, followed by 13.4°C at Bhuntar, 7.1°C at Kalpa, 21.7°C at Dharamsala, 17.5°C at Mandi and 15.9°C at Una.
— UNI |
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Accused held in murder case
Mandi, May 4 The police arrested Manjit Kumar on Friday night at Lalpur, Garh Shankar in Hoshiarpur district in Punjab. He had been absconding after he along with nine accomplices allegedly beat Manoj Kumar to death on April 9 around 10.30 pm near the liquor shop. The police had arrested nine of the staff of the liquor shop in the case the next day. |
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Saurabh Van Vihar gutted
Palampur, May 4 The project was taken up seven years ago and around Rs 1.5 crore had been spent on it till date. The project was named in the memory of martyr Capt Saurabh Kalia, who sacrificed his life in the Kargil conflict. Former Union rural development minister Shanta Kumar had initiated the project and sanctioned Rs 50 lakh from his MP constituency development fund. During the previous Congress regime, the project remained in neglect as Virbhadra Singh government did not sanction any funds for it. |
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Chandel to work for Thakur’s victory
Bilaspur, May 4 He said he was himself in the race for the party ticket so that he could go to the people and get their verdict and prove himself innocent in this “highest court of justice”. |
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