Strict directions had been issued to the banks to install such cameras but the latter have failed to realise their responsibilities.

Palampur, June 20
The two accused involved in the rape of 18-year-old British girl which rocked the peaceful Kangra valley, were today remanded in police custody by a local court for three days.

Additional District Attorney (ADA), who appeared on behalf of the police, pleaded before the court that certain recoveries pertaining to the case were yet to be made and, therefore, police remand of the accused was a must.

The ADA also argued that information about the hideouts of the accused was also being procured by the police with their help.

After hearing detailed arguments of both counsel, the Judicial Magistrate remanded the accused in the police custody till June 21 and ordered that they might again be produced in his court on Monday.

It was also revealed that one of the accused was already involved in a rape case at Manali. The Palampur police has contacted the Kullu police in this connection.

Earlier, in the morning, the police took the British girl to the local court where her statement under Section 164 of the IPC was recorded.

The girl, who was under great shock, narrated the entire incident in English and told the court how she managed to reach the police station at 2 pm on Friday morning.

She told the court that when she was moving on foot near Hotel Tea Bud on
Thursday evening at about 7 pm, she was offered a lift by the accused who
were in a jeep.

She boarded the jeep without any hesitation as she did not expect any foul play. She was first taken to a café and later kept in illegal confinement for three hours and was raped by both the accused.

Inquiries made by The Tribune revealed that the victim was working for a Rajasthan-based NGO of which had brought over 20 girls to Palampur. They were putting up in a private house in Bundla village near the town.

Their daily routine was to visit the government schools, anganwadis and other educational institutions to teach English to schoolchildren.

Meanwhile, the incident came as a big blow to her companions and they had all plans to go back.

A British lady, accompanying these girls, while talking to The Tribune, said they
had been coming to Palampur for the past three years but no such incident had
ever taken place.

Shimla, June 20
The poor performance of governmentschools in comparison to private institutions, particularly in the middle examination, has drawn attention to the declining standards of education in the public sector.

An analysis of the 2009 results has revealed that despite minimal and not-so-well-paid staff the private schools have been showing far better results.

Not only their pass percentage is higher than government schools, but also the percentage of students qualifying the examination with flying colours is much higher.

For instance, in the middle examination 9,799 out of total 20,219 students (almost 45 per cent) of 965 private schools in the state secured more than 60 per cent marks. In comparison in government schools only 17,790 out of 86,920 students (about 20 percent) of 2,790 government institutions were placed in first division.

The overall result of middle examination conducted by the state board of school education was 57.77 per cent but the percentage of successful candidates in private schools was as high as 71.74 and government schools only 54.90.

The performance gap in case of the matriculation examination was slightly less
with the success rate of 76 per cent for private schools and 62 per cent for
government schools.

However, number of private schools with low-level of performance were also quite high. There were 25 private schools with zero per cent result in middle examination as against 45 government schools.

The figure for private schools was on the higher side as they account for only about 25 per cent of the total schools in the state.

The number of private schools with less than 20 per cent result was only 19 and government schools 228.

In such a scenario it is hardly surprising that enrolment in government institutions has been declining.

Parents prefer to send their children to private schools though most of them, which have come up in the rural areas, do not have proper staff and other infrastructure.

The directorate of elementary education has started interaction with heads of concerned schools to ascertain the reasons for poor results.

Shimla, June 20
Concerned over the increase in production and trade of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances despite best efforts, the government has been forced to constitute a high-powered committee to chalk out a strategy to fight the menace spreading its tentacles to newer areas in Himachal.

In view of the problem assuming alarming proportions, the Union Home Ministry and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have asked the state to make concerted efforts to tackle the growing problem.

It is on their directives that IG (CID) has been appointed as the nodal officer to ensure that effective measures are taken to check the illegal practice.

Even though district-level committees had been constituted to tackle the problem, the Chief Secretary will now be the chairperson of the high- powered committee.

Besides senior police officials, Principal Secretaries of home, revenue, forest, health, education, PWD, agriculture, horticulture, excise and taxation and law departments have been made members of the committee.

The committee has been asked to monitor the implementation of the NDPS Act, identify cultivation areas, trafficking routes and modus operandi so that counter operations can be launched.

One very important task before the committee will be to create alternative development opportunities to wean off people from production, consumption and trade of illicit drugs.

The failure of the forest and revenue officials in reporting cultivation of cannabis and opium on government and private tracts in remote and inaccessible areas, has compounded the problem.

“We have written to chief forest conservator and Deputy Commissioners of districts of Kullu, Mandi, Chamba, Shimla and Sirmour to coordinate with the police so that the problem can be tackled through joint efforts,” said ID Bhandari, ADGP, CID.

Despite the police warning that forest and revenue staff in the field could be booked in case they do not report the cultivation of cannabis and poppy, there has been little cooperation.

With its limited staff and resources, it is not possible for the police to combat the problem single-handedly.

SPs of five districts have been provided with satellite images of area under narcotic plants so that special drives can be undertaken jointly with other departments.

Illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium is being undertaken in more than 52 panchayats in the five districts.

Mandi, June 20
State Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur today assured block presidents and party workers that the party would take “disciplinary action” against those who indulged in anti-party activities after they registered a written complaint with the five-member disciplinary committee formed to examine the party’s debacle in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

According to sources, the party workers and block presidents, at the district Congress committee meeting held here today, highlighted that “under-cutting by some vested political interests, overconfidence of workers after historic nomination rally and misuse of official machineries and booth wise warning to BJP workers by the CM to ensure leads” were the major factors that reduced the lead of the now Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

The party workers agreed that Mandi candidate Virbhadra Singh could not win by the margin befitting “his stature and mass base” because of “undercutting in some areas, Dhumal’s warning to pradhans and overconfidence of Congress workers after the nomination rally”.

Former Sundernagar Congress MLA Sohan Lal Thakur cited overconfidence among Congress workers and misuse of official machineries by the BJP government as major reasons reducing Virbhadra Singh’s lead margin in the election.

The crowd at the nomination rally made them overconfident and workers did not go to each and every voter, he observed. Mandi Sadar MLA Anil Sharma urged to make the new body more proactive.

Other block presidents demanded disciplinary action against the “black sheep” who acted against the interests of the party.

Kaul Singh said workers should forward the written complaint to the five-member committee constituted under chairmanship of Rajkishan Gaur to look into the matter.

Mandi, June 20
Over 267 members of the Old Bijay High School Association (OBHSA), which launched its website here today, urged the state government to save the 143-year-old rare gable-shaped school building from going into rack and ruin.

They also demanded heritage status for the building. Highlighting the plight of the one of rare and oldest buildings in the temple town, OBHSA president Anil Sharma, its member Dr Inderjit Parmar, KL Vaiday and others said they would take up the pathetic plight of the school building with the government and other departments to declare it a heritage building.

The building should be restored and conserved to its pristine glory, as it is one of rare gable-shaped remnant of the hill architecture, they said.

“The building needs immediate attention and the government should act fast and declare it a heritage building,” they urged.

A visit to the site revealed that the double-storeyed gable-shaped wooden building of the school set up here by the then raja of Mandi, Bijay Sen, in 1866, is one of the oldest schools in the state and was in a dilapidated condition.

The roof is crumbling and leaks in rainy days, walls and wooden veranda are in a shambles making it a safe refuge for monkeys.

Even anti-social elements break into the building several times stealing school gadgets, revealed schoolteachers.

Principal Madhu Varsha said they were facing lot of problems as the building needed immediate maintenance.

They had taken up the matter several times with the government, but so far nothing had been done to restore it, she added.

The members of the association said the school had produced professionals, scientists and politicians. They can now access the website, www.students ofmandischool.com, designed by Dr Parmar, and can stay in touch.

Director, Education, OP Sharma said its restoration and renovation needed a huge budget. “We will take up the matter with the government and things can move further only if it is declared a heritage building,” he added.

In compliance of this order a proposal was sent to the government and it constituted a committee which decided to shift 55 shops to the Vikas Nagar and 48 stalls near the Tara Devi temple at BCS.

Shimla, June 20
Chief Minister PK Dhumal has urged the Centre to share the liabilities being met by the state under the market intervention scheme (MIS) for apple, mango and citrus fruits as had been the practice till 2001.

In a letter written to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, the CMsaid the MIS had been introduced in 1990 to ensure a minimum market price for growers’ produce.

“There had been a practice of sharing 50 per cent of the MIS liabilities by the Centre, which has now been brought down to 25 per cent, thereby putting a huge financial burden on the state,” he said.

It would be in the interest of the fruit growers if the old system was continued and MIS liabilities shared equally, he added.

“The upper ceiling of 25 per cent must be removed along with the limit on the incremental method of 10 per cent of the normal production,” he urged.

He said since Himachal had already reached a level of over 10 per cent in its plan outlay for agriculture and allied sectors, allocation should be automatically eligible for drawing the benefits under the RKVY.

Chamba, June 20
Failure to acquire land for constructing building of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in Chamba district has become a cause for concern.

Officials attribute the reason of inordinate delay in identifying and acquiring land for the construction of consumer court edifice to the scarcity of land in Chamba.

However, people of the area are facing a lot of problems while dealing with their day-to-day business; but they are helpless to safeguard their legitimate rights and are becoming prey to the harassment of different commercial organisations and government departments.

According to official sources, it is mandatory under Section-9 of the Consumer Disputes Act to open at least one court in each district.

However, there is an urgent need to set up a consumer court here so that people could derive benefits for which the Consumer Act had been enacted.

The government had already sanctioned a sum of Rs 33 lakh in the initial stage, but nothing concrete had been done so far in this regard, the official sources confirmed.