Hamirpur, December 21
The food supplies and consumer affairs department will soon open 43 new LPG distribution agencies in the rural areas of the state to expand the distribution network.The new agencies will be opened within three months under a Central Government scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vitran Yojna (RGGVY), which is being implemented by the state government here.

Though 73 new LPG agencies have been proposed under the yojna in the state, in the first phase 43 agencies will be opened.

The main purpose of starting the scheme is to create self-employment opportunities for rural youths by allotting them LPG agencies.

These agencies will be run on small-scale basis and two to three truck loads of refill will be supplied every month to each agency.

For allotting these agencies, the unemployed rural youths will be given preference to provide them opportunities for self-employment by LPG supplier companies.

By running a new gas agency, each youth will be able to earn from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month. The scheme will benefit LPG users in villages to get LPG refills near their residences.

However, these gas agencies will not make door-to-door supply of LPG refills like the facility provided in the urban area and instead the consumers in the rural area will themselves have to collect the refills from the distribution points of the gas agency.

Area manager of the Indian Oil Corporation Rajiv Sharma said, “At present, we will open 43 gas agencies under the RGGVY in the rural area of the state and have already started process to allot these agencies to the unemployed rural youths at different places, including tribal areas.” 

Dharamsala, December 21
The 27-member Himachal Police team has returned empty-handed from Doda.Sources available here told The Tribune that the arrested district commander of Hizbul Mujahedeen Jameel Ahmed during interrogation had told the police about three places in Doda district where a heavy cache of arms was stored by his organisation.

The police party managed to reach one place after trekking difficult routes in Doda district. However, they failed to find anything there. The second location, described by Jameel, was located in a snowbound area and the police party found the place unapproachable during winters.

The sources here said at the third place, the Army had already recovered arms and ammunition. Police officials are of the view that terrorists might have shifted the ammunition after receiving the news of the arrest of Jameel and his associate in Kangra.

It is for first time that the Himachal Police has carried out search operation in terrorist-infested Doda district. The newly formed commando contingent of the Himachal Police was also put into service for the first time.

The 12-member commando team was deputed to protect raiding party from accomplices of terrorist.

Dharamsala, December 21
Despite a massive outrage in the state against the examination scam, the perpetrators have yet not given up the business.Interestingly, the modus operandi was the same as was used by the main accused in the earlier exam scam. They used to fill the examination forms of students, who hired their services to pass board examinations. The roll numbers were also received at academies.

The accused then solved the papers of students and sent these to evaluation centres. So, the students pass board examinations without even appearing at the centres.

It was established after board officials found 100 forms, filled in for final examinations scheduled for March 2011, with fake addresses. Most of the fake addresses on forms had led board officials to private academies being run in Shimla, Solan and Kangra districts.

Board secretary Prabhat Sharma told The Tribune that they had got suspicious due to certain discrepancies in the forms of about 100 students, who had submitted their examination forms privately.

Letters with directions to remove the discrepancies were sent to these students through registered post. However, the letters returned to the board as the addresses given in examination forms were found fake.

The board officials then verified the addresses given in the examination forms. In Kangra, these had led them to a private academy in Sidhpur Ghat near Jawali that was locked.

The board secretary said in certain cases, the authorities, who had attested such forms, would be questioned. “If the attestations are found to be fake, we can hand over the case to the police”.

Orders have also been issued that the students, whose addresses in the examination forms are found to be fake, should not be issued roll numbers. They will not be allowed to sit in examination centres, he said.

Meanwhile, the police is in the process of establishing the role of former board chairman CL Gupta in the scam.

Kangra SP Diljeet Singh said the board chairman was questioned recently regarding 849 examination forms of private students accepted by using his discretionary powers after the due date. “Now we are trying to find out how many of these students were involved directly in the scam and got mark sheets through the main accused in the examination scam. Anything regarding the implication of senior officials of the board in the exam can be said after the completion of inquiry”, he said.

Sources said police officials had sent another questionnaire to the board secretary with queries regarding the procedure adopted during last board examinations.

While the inquiry into the board scam is going on, the main accused in the case Ashwani Dogra and Suresh Chaudhary were released on bail yesterday by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dharamsala. Both accused were out on bail as the police failed file charge sheet against them within 90 days of the registration of the case against them. The other two accused, board officials, have also secured bail from the High Court.

Dalhousie, December 21
The bodies of a married couple were recovered from a hotel here yesterday.The bodies had been handed over to their relatives after carrying out the post-mortem today, Dalhousie DSP Raman Kumar Sharma said.

The deceased had been identified as Sukhjinder (30) and his wife Jitender Kaur. Sukhjinder belonged to Sultani in Gurdaspur district while his wife belonged to Amritsar.

“The duo had booked a room in the hotel on December 18 and on the night of December 19 they paid the hotel bill saying that they would leave the hotel the next day,” the DSP said.

The DSP said a waiter, who had come to clean the room, found the door locked from inside. He informed the owner of the hotel.

The hotel owner peeped into the room through a ventilator and saw that the man was hanging from the fan. He then informed the police about the incident, the DSP added.

The police reached the hotel and opened the door and found the man hanging from the fan and his wife lying dead on the bed. 

Kangra December 21
The Himachal Pradesh Govt Teachers’ Union today expressed displeasure over deputing teachers for conducting the panchayat and civic bodies polls in the state, which was adversely affecting the quality of education in the schools.

Onkar Rana, secretary general of the teachers’ union, today said here that more than 70 per cent of the polling staff had been deputed from the teaching community, which included a large number of women teachers, forcing the students to suffer.

He expressed shock that on the one hand, the government was claiming that it was committed for the quality education but on the other hand, the maximum polling staff was comprising the teachers.

Meanwhile, Rana expressed his satisfaction for providing facility by the state Election Commission to the employees on poll duty to exercise their right to franchise through poll duty ballots. He said by creating this mode of voting, the Election Commission had fulfilled their longstanding demand.

Kullu, December 21
Shirar panchayat is the only panchayat in this district that has been elected unanimously.There are 40 panchayats in the block out of which two panchayat elections were suspended and dates to be announced later.

Mahavir Prasad Bhargav, a former district Congress president, said the unanimous decision by the people of the panchayat was taken at a joint meeting keeping in view the amount of Rs 10 lakh given to the panchayat for development .

Chiterlekha Bhargav was elected “pradhan” and Prakash Chand “up-pradhan”, besides all panchayat members were elected unanimously.