The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

SMS Case
Teacher suspended
Our Correspondent

Palampur, February 15
Head of Department, Agro Forestry, HP Agriculture University (HPAU), Dr Atul was today placed under suspension following interim report submitted by a three-member committee to Vice-Chancellor Tej Partap.

The committee report established the involvement of Dr Atul in the case of objectionable SMS sent to a girl student of the university in November last.

A university press note issued here today said as per the interim report submitted by the three-member committee, it was established that the action of Dr Atul amounted to sexual harassment of the girl student and needed immediate action.

The VC placed him under suspension with immediate effect.

It may be recalled that a girl student of HPAU and her parents had lodged a complaint with the VC in November last alleging that Dr Atul had sent an objectionable SMS to her. Thereafter, the varsity constituted a three-member committee. However, the committee did not submit its report in over two-month period. Students belonging to the ABVP had started alleging that the VC was shielding the erring teacher.

The delay on the part of the university authorities had also annoyed Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. On Friday last, students belonging to ABVP gheroed the VC for about an hour and staged a dharna on the university campus demanding immediate action against Dr Atul.

The VC today called on senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar at his residence and apprised him of the latest development in the case.

4,000 gram nayayalayas to be set up: CJI
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 15
The government will set up 4,000 gram nayayalayas in remote villages in the country in order to speed up the justice delivery system and clear pendency of cases in various courts of law.

This was stated by Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishanan at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Rs 13.85-crore administrative block of the high court here today. He also laid the foundation stone of a new judicial complex at Kamnanagar to be constructed at a cost of Rs 37.43 crore.

“Unfortunately, there is nobody to lobby for the judiciary. The executive is pre-occupied with political-social work. As a result of this, judiciary figures low on the priority of the government in resource allocation,” he said. Citing the example of China, which had revived its judicial system with a boom after years of neglect, he said it was time for India to put its act together in that regard.

He said the setting up of 4,000 gram nayayalayas would help rural people get their grievance redressed at the village level in a cost-effective and prompt manner. “Evening courts set up in a few states on trial basis have been a success and similar courts are likely to be opened at other places to ensure prompt legal services,” he said.

The CJI said young legal professionals needed to be motivated to join judicial services so that the large number of vacancies existing in various courts of law could be filled. He hoped the state would extend full cooperation for the setting up of National Law College here.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal said it was the joint responsibility of the executive and the judiciary to protect interests of the common man. He assured that the state government would not be lacking in any way. He said Himachal was among the few states that had implemented recommendations of the Shetty Pay Commission and provided Rs 60.26 crore for the construction of new judicial complexes.

Supreme Court judge Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta detailed the historical background of the legal system in Himachal. Chief Justice of the Himachal High Court Jagdish Bhalla said lawyer’s chambers would be constructed in the new complex in order to provide them with better working conditions.

Winter carnival begins at Manali
MC Thakur

Manali, February 15
The five-day state-level winter carnival started with fanfare and gaiety at Nehru Park here today. MP Anurag Thakur inaugurated the carnival at Manu Rangshala. He also inaugurated the Himachal Winter Games Championship at Ram Bagh. The championship is being organised by the Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association (HPWGA). Around 200 skiers from all over the state are participating in it.

Earlier, folk artistes from different parts of the country assembled in the compound of Hadimba Devi temple at Dhungri. A special “pooja” was performed there. Later, a procession was taken out from the temple to Manu Rangshala.

The procession consisted of fascinating tableaux displaying culture, tradition, art and the way of life of the people from Kullu valley and other parts of the country. Artistes of mahila mandals, yuvak mandals, Border Roads Organisation and various NGOs also participated in the celebrations.

Anurag Thakur said Rs 3 crore would be spent for developing an ice skating rink. He said the government would develop infrastructure to promote winter sports at Manali and international-level championship would be organised over the next two years.

Khimi Ram Sharma announced a grant of Rs 21,000 for the carnival. Manali SDM Rajeshwer Goel and MLA Govind Singh Thakur also spoke on the occasion.

HRTC losing passengers, revenue
Dharam Prakash Gupta
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, February 15
While people of Hamirpur district and surrounding areas were resenting the changes in routes of decades old Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC)-run buses for alleged political reasons, the HRTC is losing passengers and revenue to serve the interests of certain politicians.

Hamirpur region of HRTC has effected the change of routes of a few buses during the past few months.

Route of one such HRTC service plying on the Mandi-Hamipur route for last 40 years has now been diverted on the Baldwara road from the main route, causing inconvenience to passengers travelling on this route.

Direct passengers to Mandi or Hamirpur were now avoiding this bus as this route takes more time than the earlier one.

Similarly, a bus service between Avah Devi and New Delhi has been diverted through some interior villages instead of the direct route, which has witnessed a drastic fall in the number of passengers travelling to Delhi.

HRTC officials have also submitted a proposal to change the route of one another very old service plying between Chintpurni and Sarahan to divert it through Mehre instead of direct route to Shimla via Hamirpur.

Sources in the corporation said, “This change in the route will also lead to a huge loss in passengers and revenue and people of Hamirpur would be left without a service.”

The changes effected by the HRTC has led to loss of an average Rs 50,000 per month for Mandi service and Rs 10,000 daily on Avah Devi-New Delhi route, the sources said.

Suresh Chand, a medical representative travelling frequently between Mandi and Hamirpur, said, “I now take a private bus since it takes too long to travel by this bus.”

Transport Minister Kishan Kapoor said, “Recommendations of public representatives are important, but if these changes are causing inconvenience to passengers and leading to losses to the HRTC, we would review the same.”

Monolithic temple remains found
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 15
In a significant discovery, archaeologist and renowned writer Dr OC Handa has discovered a rare ancient monolithic Ardhnarishwar temple remains chiselled out from living sandstone. But it is dumped literally in silt and filth at the confluence of the Beas and Suketi rivers in this temple town.

He discovered this rare Ardhnarishwar temple remains chiselled out of a living sandstone rock on a rectangular plan, on an average measuring 1.84 m in length and 0.8 m in width on February 6 during a visit to this town. He spotted it near Chakadini Jaan opposite to the famous Panchvaktra Mahadev temple, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monument.

Handa said the temple remained buried under the sand before the floods washed down the silt. He said the temple’s condition reflected abject callousness on part of residents and authorities.

Talking about its design and artistry antiquity, Dr Handa said the temple is the second of type to famous monolith rock-cut Thakurdwara at Masrur in Kangra.

He said in this temple, the image is symbolically represented as lingam, enshrined in a plain square sanctum. “The lingam is installed on a yoni-peeth, encircled by nag. On the jambs, dwarpals are depicted standing in attendance”.

On the basis of its features Dr Handa found that the Ardhanari aspect of Shiva is only known by the two abstract symbolic representations. On one of these is the front frieze. On it, a bull, the mount of Shiva is shown on the right. On the left, there is a lion. In the middle of these two zoomorphs, the classical gawaksh device is shown.

On the back of this lion, Shaktipad, the feet of Shakti, are represented. The whole composition represents the Shiv-Shakti unification, he added. He observed that on the right side of the temple, Kartikey is shown seated on a peacock. Below that representation, the striding elephants and lions are represented befitting Kartikeyay’s status as the commander of the army of gods.

He said sadly, the upper part of this monolith is extinct making it impossible to ascertain its height.

JBT students on the warpath
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 15
Over 1,800 protesting JBT students getting training in the District Institute of Education Training (DIETs) across the state and directorate of elementary education are on a collision course as the former has demanded categorically that they would not attend classes till the government asks them to sign the regular bond for appointment with them. On the other, the government has asked the DIETs to strike off their names from rolls after absenting them from classes for seven days.

The showdown between the striking JBT trainees and the directorate on the issue is on the cards, as the government wants to act tough with the JBT students. Officials reviewed the situation yesterday and decision is expected by Monday or so, the officials said.

Dismissing directorate oral direction to strike off their names from rolls of the DIETs as ploy to subvert their genuine demand of regular JBT appointment after training, JBT students said the government should give them regular appointment like it had done in the past. Their future is insecure if they do not get regular job,” they asserted, rejecting government’s offer for signing the “contractual bond”.

Sources said the directorate of elementary education had conveyed the oral order to the principals of each DIETs in the state asking them to act tough with the striking JBT trainees as it had vitiated the academic atmosphere in the DIETs.

In fact over 1,800 JBTs in the state are up in arms against the government move for the contract jobs throughout the state, students leaders informed, requesting anonymity.

Though the DIET principals admitted that they have received “oral instruction from the higher authorities to strike off the names of the absentees from rolls”, no principal took action in this regard.

Director elementary education Sunil Chaudhary said the matter was being taken up with the government at higher-level and refused to answer the queries further.

Holi-Utarala tunnel proposed
Our Correspondent

Chamba, February 15
In order to reduce distance and streamline traffic at remote places in the state, the state government has proposed construction of a 4-km long tunnel from Holi to Utarala in Bharmour tribal region of Chamba district.

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Tulsi Ram, who represents the Bharmour Assembly constituency, said a project to construct a tunnel from Holi to Utarala with an outlay of Rs 500 crore had been put forward to the 13th Finance Commission for funding.

Among other tunnel projects in the state, this was one of the enormous projects, he said; hoping that the tunnel when constructed would go a long way in reducing distance between Bharmour and other parts of the state.

The Speaker also disclosed that he had also taken up the matter of constructing a tunnel to link Chehni Pass with Pangi tribal valley.

“I have also taken up the issue of opening an engineering college in the district with Chief Minister PK Dhumal,” the Speaker said.

The Chief Minister had already dedicated the 72-km long portion of the Alwas-Killar road completed at a cost of Rs 8.84 crore to the people of Pangi valley and a motorable bridge over the Chandra-Bhaga river completed at a cost of Rs 2.3 crore, the Speaker added.

CM expresses concern over global warming
Our Correspondent

Una, February 15
Chief Minister PK Dhumal said today that humanity calls for reorganisation of those who set high standards in society. He was speaking at the 34th annual function of the Himotkarsh Parishad in Women College at Kotla Khurd in Kotla village.

Speaking on the occasion, he expressed concern over the degenerating climatic conditions and global warming. He said for global warming developed countries were more responsible than the developing countries.

On behalf of the parishad, he honoured five personalities with National Integration awards and five with Himachal Shree awards.

The awardees include Delhi High Court Judge Justice Rekha Sharma having her paternal routs in Dulhed village of Una District, head of the Journalism Department of HPU Dr TDS Alok, typing world record holder Padam Shree Rajinder Thakur from Theog, Ramesh Sehgal from Jalandhar and Shaurya Chakra awardee Major Anshual Shukla.

Those who received Himachal Shree are- PWD secretary Balram Sharma, sports coach Bhupinder Singh from Hamirpur, Dr Pritam Kalia of Indian Agriculture Research Institute, Delhi, and retired HAS officer Dr Prem Bhardwaj.

Cong alleges misuse of temple funds
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, February 15
State Congress vice-president Ram Lal Thakur has alleged flagrant misuse of the Naina Devi temple funds by concerned officers without any approval of the temple trust. He said no meeting of the trust had been called up till now during the last more than one year while an enormous amount of Rs 9 crore had already been spent from temple funds during this period.

Addressing mediapersons at the Circuit House here today, he said NABARD had already sanctioned Rs 6.5 crore for widening and allied works of the 12 km Naina Devi to Toba road much earlier on December 31, 2007, before the BJP government came to power. Now, the process to award this work to some contractor is on, but trust officers have allocated an additional amount of Rs 1 crore for this road from temple funds without giving any reason that why this amount is being spent when the Central Government had already provided funds for it.

Cong to hold rally tomorrow
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 15
As a run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress will organise Jan Aakrosh rally outside the Vidhan Sabha on February 17.

Chief spokesperson and general secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, Kuldeep Rathore said here today the rally would be a mark of protest by the Congress against the anti-people decisions and failure of the Dhumal regime in its one-year rule.

He said all district Congress chiefs and office-bearers of the frontal organisations would take part in the rally. He added the rally would be addressed by senior Congress leaders, including CLP leader Vidya Stokes, former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur.

DAV College first in sailing competition
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, February 15
Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) organised a two-day long inter-college sailing competition at the Water Sports Centre (WSC), Pong Dam reservoir, which concluded last evening.

According to deputy director of the WSC RR Thakur, in boy’s category five colleges participated in the event on Saturday in which DAV College, Amritsar, GND university campus, Amritsar, and DAV College, Jalandhar, respectively stood first, second and third. Whereas in girl’s category four colleges participated on the first day of the event in which GND university campus, Amritsar, Hans Raj Mahavidhalya, Jalandhar, and BBK DAV College, Amritsar, were adjudged first, second and third, respectively.

4 workers killed in mishap
Our Correspondent

Kullu, February 15
Four persons were buried alive in a duct at the 100 MW Malana-2 hydropower project being near Jari, about 35 km from here. They were in a trolley inside the duct when the accident took place. All of them were killed on the spot.

The management of the private company undertaking the project confirmed that workers were killed at the project site. Those killed were: Keral, Deep (both from Assam), Dhiren from Sikkim and Relakson from Jharkhand.

SP Jagat Ram said he was on way to the spot and a case would be registered after the preliminary investigation.

Minister’s directive to DCs

Hamirpur, February 15
Education Minister ID Dhiman said yesterday that all DCs were being directed to make survey of all private educational institutions operating in their areas and frame guidelines. He said, “Since many private educational institutions are running their centres at many places claiming to have recognition from universities all DCs would carry the survey of these institutions and frame guidelines for recognition, besides starting a public campaign on this issue.”

He said, “The government policy about JBTs and PTAs is very clear and there is no ambiguity in this.” “During the one-year rule of the present government we have taken several steps for the benefit of public like increase in daily wages, employment to rural people through NREGA and every section of society has been given some benefit.” — TNS

Govt spent Rs 63 crore on roads: Minister
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, February 15
The government has spent Rs 63 crore on construction of roads and buildings in Bilaspur district during this year. Out of it Rs 30 crore is being spent in Kot Kehloor constituency, which has remained ignored in this matter for all these years.

This was stated by PWD and Revenue Minister Gulab Singh Thakur while inaugurating Rs 82 lakh Neri bridge on Ali khad yesterday, about 40 km from here. He said the former Congress government neglected construction of this bridge since past 10 years.

Thakur said the Central Government led by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had allocated Rs 60,000 crore for construction of roads in the country and the Himachal government would receive it instalment of Rs 400 crore under this project before March end this year.

He said all villages with a population of 500 would be connected with roads by the end of this year and those with population of 250 by 2012.