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Govt to develop places Bapu visited in Shimla
Martyr's destitute mother needs succour
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Community health services dismal in Solan
Loreto spirit comes alive at reunion
Delay in salaries
Fair price shops lack levy sugar
HPU Campus Notes
Crop insurance to benefit mango growers
NGO for developing tourism circuit in
Chamba
vignettes
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Govt to develop places Bapu visited in Shimla
Shimla, November 24 To be funded by the Department of Languages, Art and Culture, INTACH will develop heritage trails so that these places can be developed and protected. Plaques will be put up at each of the 21 sites in the capital where the Father of the Nation either stayed or visited, giving history and complete details of the significance of his visit. It is barely a month back that Gandhi's grandson, Gopal Krishan Gandhi, Governor of West Bengal, during a visit to the state capital had demanded that all places associated with the Father of the Nation must be developed as heritage sites as some of them were lying in a complete state of neglect. Gopal Krishan Gandhi, who is Chairman of the sub-group of the Gandhi Heritage Committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Culture has already submitted a list of over 2,000 public places, halls and parks visited by the Mahatma. "It is on the request of our central office that we will be developing these places and prepare complete literature signifying the relevance of his visit and how it shaped the destiny of the nation," said B.S. Malhans, convener of the State Chapter of INTACH. The trails though on a much smaller scale would be on the lines of the proposed Dandi corridor being proposed in Gujarat. The state Department of Languages, Art and Culture has already identified 21 places visited by Mahatma Gandhi between 1921 and 1946. "We have already identified the places visited by Mahatma Gandhi and handed over the list to the central government," said Prem Sharma, Director, Languages, Art and Culture. The list includes both private as well as government properties. Bapu came to Shimla 21 times between 1921 and 1946 and visited the Viceregal Lodge, now known as the IIAS, on several occasions. He also visited Shanti Kuti in the Chakkar area, which is well-maintained. It was on May 12, 1921, that Gandhi, accompanied by Madan Mohan Maulviya and Lals Lajpat Rai, came to Shimla to meet the then British Viceroy, Lord Reading. He also made several trips later to meet freedom fighters and then during the talks at the time of Partition. Some of the other places he visited in Shimla included Manorville, residence of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, in Summer Hill, now under the control of the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi Gopal Krishan Gandhi had rued that many of the private places, which Mahatma visited, were in a shambles and required immediate attention. The list of all such places has been compiled alphabetically, beginning with Aat village in Gujarat which he visited during the course of the Dandi march and ending with Zulfipur in Bihar. Though a majority of the places visited by Gandhi, which are under government control are well-maintained and in good condition but those with private individuals are crumbling.
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Martyr's destitute mother needs succour
Kangra, November 24 Bimla Devi of Ladoh village, near Panchrukhi, in this district, said her 24-year-old son, Sunil Kumar Ladohia(Batch no. 886990235 69 BN BSF camp Khemkaran) attained martyrdom fighting terrorism in Punjab. With tears trickling down here wrinkled face, she said the family could not even have the last glimpse of her only son as it received nothing except for a few of his belongings. Thgough some of her relatives rushed to Amritsar soon after the tragic news to collect the body, it was shocking to hear the BSF authorities say that Sunil' body had been cremated. The relatives got just Sunil's ashes. The relatives went straight to Hardwar from Amritsar to immerse the ashes into the Ganges. The BSF, however, handed over a compensation of Rs.25000 along with Sunil's ashes. The family lived in a state of shock for a few months. Sunil's father, Bihari Lal Ladohia, could not bear the trauma of not having been able to see his only son before he was cremated. Sunil's father succumbed to this trauma in early in 1990 just a few months after the martyrdom of his son. With the death of her husband, Bimla Devi was left in a helpless condition with none to rely upon. With no one to sustain her, Bimla Devi began her struggle to seek some sustenance, said Satish Sharma of Ladoh. She wrote several letters to the authorities concerned for help but none elicited any response. It is the moral responsibility of the BSF and the Central Govt to help such helpless women.
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Poaching of wild birds rampant in
Kangra
Kangra, November 24 The Wildlife Authorities recently rescued some wild birds from the trap of a few poachers from Kawari village near Nagrota Bagwan and sent them for treatment. RK Gupta, divisional forest officer, said a team of wildlife officials headed by Abilash Dhamudharan, an IFS probationer, recently raided Kawari village and managed to rescue half a dozen wild birds known as common wood pigeon. According to Forest Department sources, the poachers catch hold of these birds, stitch their eyelids and tie up their legs. When a flock of migratory or local wild birds fly in the locality, they throw away the caught up birds with tied legs in the air with ropes tied at their back and the birds flatter their wings which attract the attention of the flying birds and the entire flock comes down to the site and gets trapped. Gupta said flesh of these birds was being sold to local people. The wildlife officials could not nab any of the poachers on the spot. However, they rescued the trapped birds. Gupta said a case under the Wildlife Preservation Act, 1972, had been registered and search for the poachers was in progress. Reports of such trapping had been received from other localities of Kangra too. Poachers in the Pong Dam areas were killing migratory birds on the banks of the Dam, who throng the Dam during the winter season every year in large numbers from Siberia and other coldest regions of the globe. The poachers spread poison-laced seeds on the banks of the dam, particularly in the Nagrota Surian area, and when the birds consume them, they die. Last year a few cases were registered against the poachers by the Wildlife Authorities which is said to be negligible. The authorities need to keep a close watch on poachers and check such menace in the valley.
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Community health services dismal in Solan
Solan, November 24 While the government has been patting its back for opening a private medical college in the district, little has been done to strengthen basic health care facilities for the poor. It not only failed to utilise funds sanctioned under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) but also the annual budget has been lapsing year after year due to its non-utilisation. This has exposed the state’s inability to work even when ample funds are available. With woman and child health care, which is a crucial aspect under the NRHM, remaining ignored due to the non-appointment of appropriate health workers, a common man has little to rely upon the state health services. This was manifest in the ignorance of slum-dwellers in the compulsory polio immunisation campaign at Nalagarh. Though aimed at correcting striking inequalities between urban and rural health care, it appeared to be marred by ad hoc system. The state of affairs in the rural areas, especially in the industrial belt of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN), appears to be going from bad to worse with a majority of doctors giving a
convenient go-by to the norms making it mandatory for them to stay within 8 km of their place of posting. This mandate was supposed to ensure the availability of doctors round-the-clock in the rural areas, but it is a well-known fact that doctors managing postings in the border areas are those having good political connections. There is over staffing in district health centres while staff shortage is seen in rural health institutions. An illustration of this fact is the posting of as many as four dental doctors at Regional Hospital, Solan, against three posts, while a distantly located Public Health Centre at Narag is doing without a permanent doctor. Though initially a doctor was posted there from Solan, transfer orders were cancelled later and temporary arrangement had been made to depute doctors on deputation from Solan who were being duly paid TA/DA as well. The department has failed to check the proliferation of quacks and even doctors of non-allopathic streams are prescribing allopathic medicines. While such cases abounded in Solan as well as in BBN, little efforts were ever made to check such malpractices. It was this laxity which had cost a swine flu patient her life at Solan and a child his life at Nalagarh. The department is yet to wake up from its slumber and address the basic community issues. Dr Nagesh Verma, director, health, said the proliferation of quacks would be checked and sensitisation programmes would be held to educate the masses. He said high population of migrant workers in BBN had made it difficult to control the spread of such diseases though as per the enquires it was revealed that all children in slums (jhuggis) had been immunised against polio.
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Loreto spirit comes alive at reunion
Shimla, November 24 It was after a long interval of 18 years that the Loreto Reunion was held with the Loreto Education Society back in command. As more than 100 students, separated by a few years or even decades in terms of the batches they passed out from, met it was the same old feeling of being at a place which was and would always remain a "home away from home". With Nilambari, a 1964 batch passout, reminiscing the time spent here, the vivid memories of the boarding school became fresh in everyone's mind who had been here before 1976. "The school may have changed in terms of physical structures but the warmth and care it exuded more than half a century ago is still an integral part of the school," she said taking a walk down the memory lane. Nilambri, living in Ottawa in Canada, is involved with adult education. The fresh passouts cheered as their seniors sashayed on the ramp and later danced to the latest numbers, irrespective of the generation gap, as all were bound in the ineffaceable Loreto spirit.
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Delay in salaries
Kangra, November 24 Rajinder Kumar Sharma and Sanjeev Kapoor, president and general secretary, respectively, of the Himachal Pradesh Govt. Recognised and 95 per cent aided School Employees Union, said here that nearly 700 employees of 45 schools in the state had not been getting their salaries for the past 17 months. They alleged that no salaries had been disbursed for the financial year 2008-2009 which should have been given to them at least by June 30 this year as per the SC directions. They said the employees approached the Himachal Prdaesh High Court too which also directed the government to ensure regular disbursement of salaries to these employees. They alleged that the state Govt. and the Education Department had been showing indifferent attitude towards the aided schools, leaving the employees in the lurch. They said a delegation apprised Education Minister I.D.Dhiman of their problems at Jawali recently but despite his assurance nothing had been done till date. They said the employees had been left with no other option but to resort to a strike to get their salaries disbursed.
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Fair price shops lack levy sugar
Nurpur, November 24 The consumers are forced to buy sugar from market at the rate of Rs 40 to 42 per kg. October was the month of festivals. Earlier, ration cardholders were used to get more quantity of sugar from fair-price shops for this month. But this year, they got no sugar for the months of October and November. Intriguingly, some depot holders have
been issued sugar permits last month by the corporation’s wholesale outlets, but no supply was made
so far. In this connection, JC Azad, Kangra district food and supply controller, informed that there was short supply of 3,000 quintals of sugar for the month of September in Kangra district. “Not to say of levy sugar for the current month, even October’s quota has not been received so far,” he said. He made it clear that as soon as the corporation would receive sugar supply from sugar mills, the backlog of distribution would be cleared.
He also informed that as many as 3.72 lakh ration cardholders were enrolled for the distribution of
levy sugar to whom 928 fair-price shops had to deliver this commodity throughout Kangra district. Meanwhile, VP Gupta, divisional manager of the HPFCC, Kangra, informed that sugar mills in Punjab and Haryana had no levy sugar for allotment and now corporation’s team had been sent to Maharashtra to fetch truckloads of levy sugar.
He expressed hope for the allotment of levy sugar within the next few days.
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Himachal diary
The Hamirpur district administration has started a unique campaign with the twin objective of creating awareness among the people about the benefits of physical exercises and walking to bring about a change in their attitude towards various social issues.
Attractive slogans like
'Paidal sawari, labh enek, halki tond bhari jeb' have been coined to drive home the virtues of walking. The administration has taken this campaign to rural areas by putting up hoardings and distributing other publicity material (See photo). The administration is focusing on inculcating a positive attitude in the minds of the people by making them aware of the harmful effects of various evils on society. A lasting change in the lifestyle and habits of people can only come from within as it could not be imposed by using coercive methods. The issues being taken up during the campaign include dowry, menace of female
foeticide, gender-based discrimination, environment preservation, protection of forests and water conservation, Besides, special emphasis is being laid on issues concerning youth like disastrous impact of intoxicants and narcotic substances. The major thrust of the campaign is on changing the mindset and attitude of the people to fight social evils, arousing concern for natural sources and health of the individual and society at large.
MC gears up to tackle water shortage
The Shimla Municipal Corporation is gearing up to cope with the perennial shortage of water. With the rising population of the capital, even after tapping all available sources right up to the Giri river, over 40 km away, enough water is not available to meet the demand. Top environmentalists, who were in the capital to discuss ways and means to mitigate the impact of climate change, painted a grim picture as far as the availability of water was concerned. The glaciers are melting fast and precipitation, both snow and rainfall, is declining which will lead to a reduction in discharge of existing sources, they pointed out. The only way out is to save every drop of runoff by resorting to rainwater harvesting in a big way, make judicious use and recycle waste water to the extent possible. The corporation has already made water-harvesting structures mandatory for all buildings and now it is working on a plan under which all domestic waste water, except sewage, will be recycled. Separate pipelines will be laid to treat waste water for recycling. However, the plan to revamp the existing sewerage line in the city under the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission has been grounded for now. The corporation had submitted a Rs 165-crore proposal for the purpose but the Centre returned it with some observations and asked it to prune the project. A fresh proposal to lay sewerage lines in the merged areas, which did not have the facility so far, has now been sent.
Insurance cover for temple items mooted
Concerned over the ever-increasing number of temple thefts, the state Department of Art and Culture is pondering over a plan to provide insurance cover under which all valuables in important shrines across the state will be insured. To begin with the temples under the control of the government will be brought under insurance cover and the scheme will be later extended to other important shrines for which the government may provide financial assistance. Insuring the ancient antique idols, which are invaluable, will not be easy. The department is considering consulting the Archaeological Survey of India so that all relevant information along with the record of registration could be taken into consideration. If the scheme comes through, the elaborate details of the insured idols will be helpful in recovery and it will be possible to ascertain whether or not the recovered idols were original or not. There have been instances when the authenticity of the recovered idols has been questioned. (Contributed by DP Gupta and Rakesh
Lohumi)
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HPU Campus Notes
Hoping an improvement as far as its all-India ranking is concerned, the authorities at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) are eagerly awaiting the visit of the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) on November 25.
Being an important visit, which will finally decide the ranking and grades of universities, all faculties are currently engaged in putting their best foot forward and not letting any loopholes mar their chances of being ranked as a A grade university. Almost nearing a four-decade long existence, the HPU at present is placed in the B plus-plus grade. "With the mandatory conditions having been met, we are confident that the HPU will finally be placed among the A grade universities of the country," says vice-chancellor Prof SK Gupta. Aware of the fact that the team from the NAAC would be very particular in making separate assessment of each and every department, the authorities are making the best efforts to fulfil all requirements. The biggest hurdle that could come in the way of improvement of the HPU grade is the shortage of teaching as well as non-teaching staff. With almost 200 posts of lecturer lying vacant, the staff position might be a problem. With many teaching as well as other employees retiring every year, the vacancies have risen as posts have not been filled up for quite some time. Computerisation of all wings of the HPU is another area that needs better attention and care and this could also be pointed out by the NAAC team.
Result day to be announced in advance
In order to ensure that students do not face any problem on account of delayed results, especially those seeking admission to postgraduate classes, the HPU has now decided to fix the date of declaration of results, along with the examination date sheet. With results at times getting delayed for multifarious reasons, students at times had to bear the brunt, often marring their chances of getting admitted to some brilliant courses. Just hope the authorities can keep pace and stick to the date fixed while the examination schedule is announced.
HPU hopes to hold convocation every year
With the holding of the recent convocation, the HPU intends to clear all backlog and hopefully the event will be held every year on time. In the recent past, the university had to hold convocations of more than one session to cover up for the years when the convocation could not be held. More than 400 students received their degrees and gold medals from Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at the convocation for the sessions 2007 and 2008. Girls outnumbered boys as far as winning gold medals was concerned and even in terms of numbers who received their degrees.
— TNS
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Teacher from UK visits Hamirpur school
Hamirpur, November 24 Under this programme, Mathew West, a teacher in religious education and sports at Gartree Community School in the UK, visited the HAPS here for four days recently. Talking to The Tribune Mathew said:" The main purpose of this exchange programme is to build relations to improve our outlook on global issues like global warming, energy conservation, human and children rights, health and nutrition and share each other's experience in such other areas. "At present I am trying to grasp the education system by sharing the experience of students here, watching games like kho kho and kabbadi, which are new to me," he said. While the school students familiarised the British teacher with the festivals like Diwali, Holi, besides Indian food etc, Mathew taught them finer aspects of soccer. Mathew said:"The Indian and British education systems are different and there is great need to lay stress on sports by creating infrastructure and teaching finer aspects of various games. Students of both schools shared their experiences through video-conferencing. Vice-principal of the school Naina Lakhanpal said under this programme students and staff of Him Academy Public School were currently carrying out a project on global issues with partner schools in the U.K, Italy, South Korea and Japan.
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Early snow raises hopes of good ice-skating season
Shimla, November 24 The lovers of the fascinating winter sport were left disappointed last year as the season was virtually "dried out" by a snow-less and unusually warm winter. As against the normal 65 to 90 sessions, only 27 skating sessions were possible through the entire season as high temperature due to a prolonged dry spell made it impossible for the water to freeze naturally. The season could not start on December 1 as per schedule. The Gymkhana and Carnival, the two main events, could not be organised because of the unfavourable weather conditions. However, unlike last year the recent spell of rain has brought down the temperature considerably and water had started freezing. If the weather remains favourable the rink will be ready with a thick sheet of ice for trial sessions from November 25 onwards, says Bhuvanesh Banga, Secretary of the Shimla Ice Skating Club. Clear weather with two or three good spells of snow through the season is ideal for a good season. The erratic weather and rising mercury has indeed put a question mark over the future of the ice skating rink. The duration of the skating season has in recent years become totally dependent on weather. The length of the season has been shrinking and the number of skating sessions has also been coming down due to the changing micro-climate. There was a time in the 1960s when as many as 165 sessions were possible and on an average 110 to 120 sessions continued till the early 1980s. Nowadays, only 60 to 80 sessions take place during a normal season and there have been occasions when the number of sessions even failed to cross the figure of 20. In recent years a number of trees on the hillside which provided shade to the rink have come down and the effective area of the rink which was as big as five tennis courts had shrunk drastically. There has been a severe degradation in the local environment and the "Queen of Hills" has been virtually transformed into a concrete jungle with multi-storeyed high-rise building on the steep slopes once covered with lush forests. Fearing the worst in the wake of the ongoing process of climate change which appears to an irreversible process, the Ice Skating Club had submitted a proposal to convert the natural rink into an all-weather rink by installing suitable refrigeration machinery. A Rs 1-core project was forwarded to the Sports Authority of India for funding almost four years ago but so far no progress had been made. The refrigeration plant will reduce the dependence on weather and help prolong the season to three months and even more to help save the historic rink. The club has not increased the membership fee of Rs 600 for children and Rs 1100 for adults for the season. Keeping in view the shrinking winter the skating season has been confined to months from December 1 to January 31.
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Here, villagers treat forests as their baby
Saroa (Mandi), November 24 He is not alone who has benefited from a district court judgment announced on July 7, 2009. “We treat the jungle as our baby. It gives us water and cool breeze in harsh summer. It is our lifeline,” adds Daulat Ram, a former pradhan of the Saroha gram
panchayat. The judgment had rejected the claim and ownership rights of one Karam Singh over the forest area. On the judgment day, 104-year-old Debu Ram, a village forest guard who used to protect the forest day and night, died soon after hearing that they had won the legal battle. Bhagu Ram, his younger brother, says he died in peace as he had fought for the cause of the forest. Today, the forest is blooming with chil and deodar trees spreading over 120 bigha. The jungle provides villagers firewood and fodder for their cattle. There are baolis and cattle pond brimming with natural water. It all began in 1972 when Karam Singh, a local resident claimed that he was given 5 bigha in Kajiuli jungle in 1972 under the HP Nautaur Land Rules, 1968. But the then Mandi deputy commissioner rejected his claims when villagers brought the matter to his notice. Karan Singh allegedly used his influence and got a revenue entry made in his name in connivance with the then patwaris. He approached the lower court contesting villagers’ claims over the forest area, but his plea was rejected by the DC. He then made an appeal in the divisional commissioner court, but it was also
rejected on January 8, 1985. Even the forest department came to the rescue of villagers and encouraged them to plant trees. The then DFO, Nachen, pleaded that land under question was a demarcated protected forest area, contesting the claim of Karam Singh.
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Crop insurance to benefit mango growers
Now, they will get compensation against the loss of their produce, thanks to the Agriculture Insurance Company of India, which, in collaboration with the state and central governments, has identified these blocks to launch its ambitious weather-based mango crop insurance scheme as a pilot project. Recently, the Nurpur horticulture block organised a special awareness workshop at Jachh here to educate fruit growers about the scheme. According to Ashok Yadav, regional manager of the company, the most important feature of the scheme is that the beneficiary will not have to file any case to get insurance claim from the company. “The company will set up weather station-cum-weather observatory unit in each horticulture block which will consolidate data relating to the weather conditions and transfer the same to company’s approved data collection centre in Hyderabad, which will finally reach at company’s head office in Delhi.” Yadav says from the head office, the claim amount will be fixed and released to the insured beneficiary within 45 days after the closing of risk period. He says the company has also covered apple, potato and tomato crops under its weather-based crop insurance scheme. “This year, Jubbal, Narkanda, Rohru and Chirgaon in the upper Shimla area and Aani in Kullu district have been identified for apple crop insurance by the company,” he adds. According to information, the state and central governments will share 50 per cent premium of the insurance scheme and the rest will be borne by the fruit grower. The beneficiary will get insurance cover for his mango crop against four adverse climatic risks like frost injury, fluctuation in temperature, off-season rain and high-speed winds. Meanwhile, information gathered from the horticulture department reveals that about 12,720 hectare has been covered under mango cultivation in the four horticulture development blocks where this scheme has been launched and over 2,500 fruit growers and farmers will be benefitted from it.
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NGO for developing tourism circuit in
Chamba
Khajjiar, November 24 The NGO has also formulated an integrated development plan for 1300-year-old Sitla Mata temple, Sillaghrath-Banjah, and the legendry Hul copper mine sites. The NGO has also claimed to have rediscovered a Hul copper mines site, circa (1559-1585), at Banjah village in Chamba district. The plan, if implemented, would provide a unique opportunity for a rapid and sustainable development of this area. The development of an adventure tourism circuit would result in the creation of a tourism destination having no parallel in the country, the NGO claims. Similar sites have been successfully built in the US and many parts of Europe. There is one such site in Europe known as The Great Orem Copper Mines. Chief executive officer of Earth Station Aniel Bhalla says it would be easy to understand the viability of this project, considering its proximity to the under-development of Sahoo circuit by the tourism department. The plan envisages the creation of an appropriate mechanism to research, explore and conserve a large cluster of mines at and around Banjah village as a first step. The NGO feels that an architectural consultancy with adequate experience in heritage conservation works should be engaged simultaneously. It considers the creation of an appropriate infrastructure at Sillaghrath as this would be the logical base camp stage for the proposed circuit. An approximate track of 6 km would be aesthetically developed starting from the forest rest house, Sillaghrath, on way to Banjah village. A mechanised chairlift from this point to Banjah village should be considered, keeping in mind various ground realities. This stage would also be ideal for a camping site with related amenities. Earth Station strongly believes that with correct planning and execution strategies, the project could help in the development of the area along with empowerment of its people.
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vignettes
Climbing down to the Directorate of Education by the road that snakes below the Shimla goods terminus, I witnessed a beautiful bungalow dwarfed by the not-so-bad-looking towering structures of concrete. The white cemented gate at the entrance to this bungalow, built in old timber-framed farmhouse architecture, reads Ellingham Lodge on one block and on the other Lalit Sachdeva, the occupant, probably an engineer in the Railways. The name Ellingham brought three different thoughts to my mind. It could not be based on well-known Ellingham diagrams which are plots of change in standard free energy with respect to temperatures for various reactions of various elements. It is too scientific to be associated with baptising a building. Could it be drawn from Ellingham in Chathill, England? Has it something to do with Lord Ellingham who, in 1842, had restored the state of Baghat to Raja Bije Singh but the state was again escheated to the British government on his death in 1849? No, because Ellingham Lodge has been first mentioned in the official records on February 20, 1925. That is the date of birth of this bungalow. It came into existence after the major overhauling of the Shimla goods terminus done in 1920. It could be that British coming from Chathill were fascinated by the name Ellingham and named it and other couple of buildings as Ellingham.
One J Decrug owning Helene Lodge and Ellingham Villa just below the Railway Board building had on September 8, 1884, complained to the municipal committee (MC) that the spoil from the excavation of the board building was shot down the ravines resulting in the carriage of a great deal of earth at the sides that had damaged his property. The MC rose to the occasion and compensated him. And when in 1916 dismantling and rebuilding of six units of double-storeyed outhouses attached to another building called Ellingham Cottage near the railway line was taken up by its owner, the Kalka - Shimla Railways (KSR) raised objection, serving notice on the owner. An interesting correspondence between the Railways and the MC followed. The MC Secretary immediately checked the records and wrote back to the KSR, "Mirza Sher Mohammed is the undisputed owner of Ellingham Cottage and, presumably, of its outhouses as well. In these circumstances, I fail to understand why the notice of reconstruction of the outhouses has been given." The engineer concerned of the KSR replied: "I write to say that Ellingham is also the name of the cottage above Mirza Sher Mohammed's cottage. That building was acquired by the Railways during the construction of Tonga Terminus line in which now Messer Scott and Barrel, European Guards, are living." To end the dispute the MC noted on its file 'Ellingham is owned by the KSR and Ellingham Cottage by Mirza Sher Mohammed'. There were some vinegary exchanges between the KSR and the MC after the first train chugged in here on November 9, 1903, when the former started spreading its wings in the town. Whenever the KSR constructed a building, the MC would mark out a few defects. On this the KSR wrote: "The MC was not allowed to check defects in government buildings." The MC accepted, saying that "apparently we are not entitled to inspect plans of the government buildings without permission of the government previously obtained." Despite the admittance, the MC wrote back: "But there is one point to consider. Is the KSR owned by the government or managed by it? Originally, it was owned by a private company?" The matter was settled by a note from the Joint Secretary to the Central Government "the KSR is an Imperial Railway being part of the North-Western Railway." This remark in 1916 made the sailing slightly smoother between the two organisations.
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A
70-year-old widow has been moving from pillar to post for the past two decades
for claiming sustenance as her only son, who was serving in the BSF at Khemkaran
in Amritsar district, attained martyrdom on August 27, 1989, during
anti-terrorist operations in Punjab.
Himachal diary
Nurpur, November 24