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Torrential rains claim three lives in Sirmaur
Ragging accused in police custody
Art gallery opens at Viceregal complex
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DGP stresses on beat system
HC notice to govt on forced donations during fairs
Woman dies of burn injuries, four booked
Another scam in education board
Sonia to decide PCC chief
Wood Smuggling
Raid-de-Himalaya from Oct 10
Congress urges Guv to address growers’ woes
Contractual docs threaten stir
Centre for elderly at Banikhet soon
‘Kol Dam project to be completed by 2012’
Uniform technology not viable for poly houses in lower areas
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Torrential rains claim three lives in Sirmaur
Nahan, September 8 Heavy rain which lashed the district last night created a cloudburst-like situation in Shamsherpur village near sabzi mandi in Poanta Sahib where all 15 rooms which were occupied by three families were submerged by more than half. In Khoruwalla village falling in Poanta Sahib five houses collapsed after a heavy downpour this afternoon. The Poanta DSP said all villagers had been evacuated and transported to safer places. Poanta Sahib received the highest 203 mm of rainfall while Nahan, Pacchad, Renuka and Sangrah witnessed 155, 156, 147 and 100 mm of rainfall, respectively, last night. This immense rain had also posed a threat to the areas lying downstream of the Sutlej river and Khoruwalla village which was closest and had suffered the maximum damage. Nahan ADM Lokender Chauhan said an ex gratia relief of Rs 1 lakh had been extended to the next of kin of those killed. In a tragic incident, one Sumer Nath Saini was killed when the breast wall abutting his house fell over a room where he was offering prayers early this morning in the Gobindgarh Mohalla area of Nahan. His body was retrieved after two-and-a-half hours. His grandson Rishab (17) was, however, extricated from the debris after about one-and-a-half hour. He was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, as his condition was stated to be critical. He had to be manually carried for almost 2 km to reach Kala Amb as Nahan was cut off from the rest of the state due to a number of landslides on all major roads, Additional SP Sanjeev Lakhanpal informed. In yet another incident, one Anil Kumar (32) was killed when an uprooted tree fell over him at Bodli Mor, near Sangrah. An employee of the BDO office, he was on his way to Nahan to attend an official meeting this morning. In another incident, one Baba Dharam Dass was killed when the ground floor of the Baba Barolia temple where he was sleeping submerged in water late last night. Since the temple was located amidst a nullah, water entered the ground floor as heavy rains poured in last night. In two separate incidents, two double-storeyed houses collapsed at Tirlokpur and Renuka injuring its occupants Sukhma Devi and Veena Kumari. The duo has been admitted to First Referral Unit, Dadahu. They were referred to Nahan but they failed to reach there as all roads leading to Nahan have been closed due to several landslides. The ADM said the rains have caused widespread damage in the district with majority of the internal roads being cut off on the NH-72 were closed due to heavy landslides. Efforts are afoot to restore roads as the PWD has pressed its workers into operation but it will take time to restore all roads, the ADM added. As power supply remained disrupted till evening, the IPH Department had a tough time in trying to restore the potable water schemes which also faced widespread damage. No water was distributed in Nahan today.
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Ragging accused in police custody
Kangra, September 8 The police arrested Susheel Kumar, a student of BCom(I) of Government College, Dhaliara, yesterday under the Himachal Pradesh Education Institution (Prohibition of Ragging) Ordinance Act for allegedly ragging a BBA(I) student of the same college. He was remanded to one-day police custody and ordered to be produced before the court tomorrow. Meanwhile, principal of the college Dr RP Jindal said one of the college committees suggested expelling Susheel, however, he was of the opinion to place him under suspension before he was heard. He said as Susheel and his father did not appear before the anti-ragging committee or even before him in this connection despite repeated requests so their version about the issue could not be recorded. |
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Art gallery opens at Viceregal complex
Shimla, September 8 Director of the Institute Peter Ronald de Souza inaugurated the exhibition at which 40 rare photographs obtained from the British Library and the Bowood Estate of Lord Lansdowne ,who was second Viceroy to occupy the Viceregal Lodge in 1890 after Lord Dufferin, are on display. The Institute has renovated the squash court in the old fire brigade complex and converted it into an art gallery. A coffee shop and a bookstore were set up last year in the portion used for fire service in the British era. This art gallery will be the first of its kind in the city.The photographs from the Bowood Estate belong to the period from 1888 to 1894. The images were received on CDs, which have now been printed by the institute on archival papers. The collection of these photographs include a coloured print of Viceregal Lodge South west (1893) painted by Sir John Ardagh, who was private secretary to Lord Lansdowne. One of the rare photographs clicked in 1890 provides a view of the Annandale race course which no longer exists. As many as 17 photographs were obtained from British Library in London with the help of the vice-chancellor of Middlesex University. He came all the way to Shimla to present the photographs. Subsequently, the institute will organise theme-based exhibitions in the gallery and works of the artists who annually assemble here under the “Artists at the IIAS” programme will also be displayed.
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DGP stresses on beat system
Solan, September 8 Addressing mediapersons after inaugurating the new building of Saproon Police Post, DGP DR Manhas said the increase in road accidents and theft cases had made the beat system as well as community policing imperative. He said since a policeman deployed in a particular beat was more conversant with the people residing within his area it would be ensured that they were not transferred frequently. Answering the media queries regarding non-registration of FIRs in theft cases, he said it was compulsory to register such cases and they could not be done away with merely making an entry in the daily dairy report. Manhas, while giving figurative details of cases registered under various heads, said there had been a decline in heinous cases while accidents and thefts had shown an upward trend. He asserted that since there were specific departments to check cases falling under the Excise Act and the Forest Act the police could assist them as detection of such crimes was primarily the responsibility of the parent department. Later, he convened a meeting of the district police and assessed the crime scenario. |
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HC notice to govt on forced donations during fairs
Shimla, September 8 Taking note of the letter written by Deepak Sethi, a resident of Kangra, complaining that he was forced to pay Rs 200 as donation by the staff of the SDM’s office at Nadaun where he had gone to obtain a “no objection certificate”(NOC) for his scooter. When he objected the officials told him frankly that they had instructions from the higher authorities to collect money for the “Hamir Utasav”. The staff refused to entertain any request for the NOC unless the amount was paid. The resident had no option but to pay the amount. He said it was very unfair to collect money from poor people who had to visit the government offices for petty jobs. The court issued notices to Home Secretary, Deputy Commissioner of Hamirpur and SDM ,Nadaun, to file their replies within a month. Collecting donations for cultural programmes, Red Cross Fair and other such events has become an established tradition in the hill state but it is for the first time that court has taken notice of it.
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Woman dies of burn injuries, four booked
Nurpur, September 8 Initially, the police following her statement had registered a case under Section 498(A) against her husband Ajay, brothers-in-law Jeevan and Arun and sister-in-law Ritu for allegedly harassing and torturing her. According to the police,Nirmala Devi of Phangria village in Gurdaspur district (Punjab) has alleged that the accused members of in-laws had started harassing her just after her marriage in October 2006. She also alleged that her in-laws had not visited the hospital after getting her admitted there. The police handed over the body to the parents of the deceased after conducting postmortem as none from her in-laws turned up.
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Another scam in education board
Dharamsala, September 8 Kangra SP Atul Fulzele said the records have been confiscated as addresses of all 63 accused students that were declared on the examination forms were found to be fake. We have confiscated the records from the office of the secretary, education board. The accused students would now be identified by their photographs on the application forms sent to the board. The scam has been brought to fore through an internal inquiry by the education board. Parents of a student wrote a letter to the board informing that a student had allegedly not appeared in the examination but passed with good percentage in the results declared. The board management checked the facts and found that the student was marked as absent at the examination centre but was declared as pass in the results. Further inquiry into such cases brought to fore 63 such cases. The board management passed on the information to the police that registered a case and started an inquiry into the matter. Kangra ASP Umapati Jamwal admitted that the board record had been confiscated. He said involvement of certain board employees in the scam cannot be ruled out. Chairman of education board CL Gupta termed the finding as unfortunate. He said since we have handed over the inquiry into the matter to the police we would not like to comment on it. He, however, added that culprits in the matter would not be allowed to go scot-free. Meanwhile, the sources said board officials suspected that certain officials at examination centres might be involved in the scandal. Though the students were absent from examination centres, there papers reached the board through post. It remains to be seen that how these students got hold of examination papers and answer sheets without appearing in examination centres. The examination centres where irregularities have been found include Nagrota Bagwan, Mataur, Kachiyari, Guler, Kangra, Kholi and Rajiyana in Kangra district and Kalol and Dulehar in Una district. This is the second scam to hit the education board after BR Rahi scam in which the daughter of former minister Singhi Ram was given more marks even than the declared topper in class XII examinations.
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Sonia to decide PCC chief
Shimla, September 8 The meeting of the PCC delegates to be held under the chairmanship of state election officer Rajani Ashok Patil here on September 12 will be a routine affair as the party had already declared that the new incumbent will be elected unanimously. The delegates will pass a resolution congratulating Sonia Gandhi for her election as national president for another term, reposing confidence on her leadership and authorising her to nominate the new state president. The Electoral College comprising delegates from 68 assembly constituencies (block units), 13 district party presidents and six former PCC chiefs has strength of 87. However, the actual number of delegates will be only 77 as election process in seven block units and three district units could not be completed due to disputes and other reasons. They include Rohru, Jhanduta, Sulah, Jwalmikhi, Bilaspur, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti blocks and Bilaspur, Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts. The six former PCC chiefs include Sarla Sharma, Sat Mahajan, Virbhadra Singh, Vidya Stokes, Viplove Thakur and Kaul Singh. Kaul Singh, who took over the reins of the party after Viplove Thakur but resigned owning moral responsibility for the party’s defeat in the 2007 assembly poll, has emerged a front-runner for the post. It has been a tightrope walk for him and he had been all through engaged in a balancing act to help carry the rival camps headed by Stokes and Virbhadra Singh. He is being backed by Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and also enjoys the confidence of the Stokes camp. On the other hand, Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh is in favour of the post being given to leaders from the Scheduled Castes or Other Backward Classes and he had thrown up the names of Gangu Ram Musafir and Chander Kumar. Rival camps have been lobbying for their respective candidates but the final outcome will depend on Sonia Gandhi who will take a decision with any eye on the next assembly poll. She will issue appropriate instructions to Rajani Patil, who will meet her before heading for Shimla.
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Wood Smuggling
Shimla, September 8 The two ITPB personnel, Sukhdev Singh Rana, Deputy Commandant, and Manmohan Singh, Inspector, were arrested in Kaza yesterday where they had been summoned to the police station for questioning. “Since distance in a rugged terrain like Lahaul-Spiti is a major constraint we will request the court to give a long police remand in one go so that we can seek all details from the co-accused,” said the SP, SR Rana. The police is learnt to have collected evidence indicating alleged connivance of the two ITBP officials with the main accused in the red sander wood smuggling case. Right from day one when the wood being illegally smuggled to China was seized, the police had been indicating the involvement of ITBP officials who had issued passes to the two trucks to ferry labourers to the border area in Lepcha on the Indo-Tibetan border. The police sources said the arrested Deputy Commandant had earlier served in the same border area of Lepcha while he was still an inspector. Though he had been posted here as Deputy Commandant for the past over a year but having served here earlier, he was well-conversant with the area as well as the functioning of the ITBP. The police have collected ample evidence, including details of the mobile and other phone calls, which indicates their alleged connivance. The senior officials of the ITBP were kept informed about the investigations and the evidence indicating involvement of the two personnel by the district police. The two have been charged with criminal conspiracy and corruption under Section 120B of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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Raid-de-Himalaya from Oct 10
Shimla, September 8 The rally being organised by the Himalayan Motorsport Association will take off from here and pass through Nalagarh, Solan, Manali, Kaza, Keylong and Sarchu and terminate at Manali. It will not visit the flood-affected Leh area. In all, it will cover a distance of about 2,500 km. In the X-treme Motorcycle category, Team Contiger of Austria has fielded six motor bikers. The Team W+K Racing’s Jonah Street, which is among the Dakar 2010 top 10 finishers, will also participate in the event. As many as 175 teams are likely to participate in the event, which is a record. Ace driver Suresh Rana will be a part of the Thunderbolt team, competing with Sunny Sidhu, the champion of Moghul Rally, and team of the Indian Army. Arrangements for the event were reviewed at a high-level meeting presided over by principal secretary, Youth Services and Sports, VC Pharka, here today. He directed the concerned departments to make the rally a success by extending all possible assistance, especially in ensuring free movement of the rally. The rally will concentrate in and around the cold desert of Spiti for most part, using the rough roads around Kaza to provide scenic backdrops for the international event. The rally will not enter the Leh area due to the ongoing relief operations.
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Congress urges Guv to address growers’ woes
Shimla, September 8 A deputation of the party led by PCC secretary Rohit Thakur and Shimla District Congress (rural) president Kehar Singh Khachi submitted a memorandum to the Governor highlighting the woes of the growers. They urged her to issue directions to the government to take necessary steps. The party alleged that the government had mishandled the bumper crop and drew her attention towards the deplorable conditions of roads, unending shortage of trucks and packaging material, which delayed the harvesting of fruit. The party also gave an ultimatum to the government to set things right by September 15 failing which it would launch an agitation. It blamed the discriminatory policy of the BJP government which did not allocate adequate funds for construction and maintenance of roads.
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Contractual docs threaten stir
Mandi, September 8 Talking to The Tribune HPMOA and JAC members said they had called off the stir after the government’s assurance to consider their demands. But even after a month, they were yet to hear from the government. The JAC doctors said they had demanded regularisation of service and the said period should be reduced from six years to three years. They also asked the government to appoint all doctors on contract/ad hoc basis as the need be or through Himachal Pradesh Public Service commission. HPMOA general secretary Dr JN Chauhan said they had demanded that the system of appointment through RKS should be abolished as it was a disgrace to the medical profession. Like all gazetted officers, doctors should be appointed by the governor as was the case earlier, he added. Dr Chauhan said the HPMOA supported the genuine demands of the doctors. As the government was not serious about the issues related to the doctors, they were being forced to start agitation. Rejecting the charges of the doctors, Health Minister Rajiv Bindal claimed the government had accepted most of the genuine demands of the doctors. “We have increased PG seats besides increasing the salaries of the RKS and contract doctors and also filling up 150 posts of the doctors through the HP Public Service Commission,” he added.
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Centre for elderly at Banikhet soon
Dalhousie, September 8 According to chairperson of the trust Kiran Dodeja, a proposal has been submitted to the state government for clearance; adding that the launching of the proposal was in the pipeline. “It is a new scheme under which elders of the Banikhet, Pukhri, Devidehra, Sukrain Bain, Surkhi Gala areas will be able to avail the daycare facility,” she said. |
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‘Kol Dam project to be completed by 2012’
Sundernagar, September 8 He said all major construction works of the project have been completed and remaining would be finished soon. Gupta said the work of the main dam was delayed due to geological changes but even than about 66 per cent of its work had been completed. In power house, two out of four units had been successfully installed and the other two would be installed shortly, the work of switch yard and laying of four pen stokes was completed last year. However, now only the work of spillway was going on and after the rainy season
the work of laying clay in the main dam would be speeded up. He said though work of the project was delayed, even than the cost of the project would not escalate.
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Uniform technology not viable for poly houses in lower areas
Dharamsala, September 8 According to sources, Jain Irrigation system company, the company involved in erecting poly houses, is providing uniform system for cooling and irrigation in the entire state. They are providing foggers for maintaining temperature and drip system for irrigation in
poly houses. However, similar technology is not viable in the entire state. In Himachal, temperature and climate varies from hot weather conditions in lower areas like Una, Bilaspur and Hamirpur districts and many areas of Kangra district to cold deserts in Lahaul-Spiti district. The borders areas of Himachal with Punjab have high temperature and some of the farmers from these areas have taken poly houses under the government scheme. While talking to The Tribune, they alleged that the fogging system provided by the company in their poly houses was not giving results in summer and monsoon seasons. Due to high temperature that goes up to 40 degrees in our areas in summer, fogging creates too much humidity which is not good for crops. We need coolers to maintain the temperature in poly houses. However, the poly-house structures provided to us by the company do not have these provisions, the farmers alleged. The non-availability of water for irrigation is another reason due to which farmers are not being able to adopt the poly-house scheme in some areas. The representative of Jain Irrigation Systems, Gaurav Pathania, admitted that a similar facility for maintenance of temperature and irrigation was being provided in the entire state. When asked about the problem being faced by farmers in the lower areas of the state, he said they should use fogger for longer periods. He said since most of the farmers in the state were opting for smaller poly houses, air-cooling technology cannot be provided. The air-cooling temperature technology was being provided only in poly houses that were over 1,000 sq m in size. The farmers were, however, not satisfied with the plea of the company and demanded that area-specific
technology should be provided to them. Poly houses are based on the greenhouse concept. However, instead of greenhouses where glass is used, in poly houses polythene or plastic sheets are used on
the roof. The sources also said poly houses might not give desired results in the cold desert or high altitude areas of the state. In winter, the polythene used in poly houses leads to reduced light conditions and increases humidity as compared to glass
poly houses. The state government is providing 80 per cent subsidy on construction of poly houses in the state. It has been increased to 90 per cent in case of below poverty line (BPL) farmers. However, the scheme can be more successful if climate and area-specific technology is provided to farmers rather than uniform technology. |
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The newly-added art gallery in the Viceregal heritage complex, housing the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), was thrown open to the public.
The police today confiscated records of this year’s class X examinations by the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBSE). They have been confiscated pertaining to a scam that has exposed a nexus in the HPBSE, involved in helping students pass class X examinations without appearing in annual examinations. Till date it has been found that 63 students passed class X examinations without appearing in annual examinations this year.
Dharamsala, September 8
