Chandigarh, June 9
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Capt Amarinder Singh today urged Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to revoke the orders leasing out 28 acres of land at Sadhopul village to Swami Ramdev, even as BJP spokesman JP Nadda indicated that this might not be possible as the yoga guru had taken the land on lease on an invitation by the government.

In a letter to Dhumal today, Capt Amarinder Singh said the land had been donated to the government by his father Maharaja Yadavindra Singh in 1956 for a children’s home, named Indira Holiday Home.

Amarinder Singh contested the manner in which the government had given the land to Swami Ramdev for opening Patanjali Yogpeeth branch on a token amount of Re 1. He said the Yogpeeth Trust was not a charitable organisation, but a profit-making company running yoga classes and manufacturing drugs on a commercial scale which were sold in the open market at high rates.

The PPCC president said thousands of children had been spending their summer vacations at the Anand Bhawan complex situated in the land donated to Ramdev. He said since this defeated the very purpose for which the land had been donated to the state, he urged that the lease deed to Ramdev be revoked forthwith.

Shimla, June 9
With age coming in his way in entering electoral politics Vikramaditya, the only son of Congress stalwart Virbhadra Singh, today decided to go public taking the sports route.

Following in the footsteps of Chief Minister PK Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur, who has reaped political dividends after taking control of the state cricket association, Vikramaditya has chosen the platform of the newly-floated Himachal Pradesh Sports, Culture and Environment Association which will organise a host of activities, starting from the Maharaj Padam Singh Memorial Cricket Tournament to be held at Rohru from June 13 to 19.

He took pains to explain that it was not a political organisation and said he had even invited Anurag Thakur for the tournament, but the underlying motive was more than obvious.

He will turn 22 in October and with the Assembly poll due next year he will not be eligible to contest the election. Keen to hold on to the political legacy of his father, he has chosen to carry out his public activities through the newly set up organisation till he is old enough to enter electoral politics.

His actions will be closely watched not only by the ruling BJP leaders but also by the detractors of Virbhadra Singh within the Congress as the kind of clout the erstwhile ruling family of Rampur Bushair state still enjoys, it will be very difficult to keep him out of the political arena.

He said the activities would not only be confined to cricket but also promote various other sports for which the state had potential in a phased manner. His organisation would cooperate with the State Cricket Association and extend all help to it in building sports infrastructure in Shimla district. The tournament would be sponsored by the Kings XI Punjab and the Jaypee Industries and many teams from outside the state, including Ranchi Challengers, LIC Chandigarh, Delhi Wonders, BDM India, JCL Chandigarh, JTC Delhi and Vidarbha Cricket Association, would participate.

It would be followed by a Shimla district T-20 tournament during which matches would be held in four zones at Sunni, Rohru, Rampur and Junga. The activities would be extended to other parts of the state gradually and covering more disciplines. He said he was himself a national-level shooter and would try his best to promote the rather expensive sport. He had already taken up the matter with the Rifle Association of India. 

Mandi, June 9
Balwant Singh (18), son of Nain Singh and resident of Sarkaghat, today had a tragic end after he jumped into the Beas downstream Pandoh Dam to save his drowning friend Amit Kumar. Both, along with five other friends, had come for the Army recruitment rally at Pandoh ground.

According to friends, they came to the riverside for enjoyment after participating in the rally. It was hot and they wanted to take a dip in the river, they claimed.

Amit was bathing in the river and lost control over himself in a strong current of the gushing river water. At this Balwant jumped into the river to save him, but he could not swim against the current of the river and was washed away.

The BBMB, Mandi fire brigade and divers from Sundernagar rushed to the spot, but there was no trace of Balwant’s body till the filing of this report.

The police took the medical examination of the six boys present on the spot, but ruled out the possibility of any foul play in the incident so far.

The police suspected that boys might had consumed liquor. However, the medical report was awaited.

Nain Singh, who rushed to the spot from his village, said his son never consumed liquor and was enrolled at the ITI Sundernagar. He said Balwant was a brave boy and burst into tears.

Solan, June 9
As many as 41 pine trees were found chopped off at the Kothi unprotected forest area in Kunihaar forest division last evening. The case came to light when villagers of Kothi spotted 41 4-5 feet tall trees chopped off and the wood lying on the spot.

ACF Hitender Sharma said the range officer had been directed to visit the spot and take stock of the situation. An FIR had been lodged under the Forest Act as there was no evidence of those who had chopped off the trees.

Range Officer Baldev Kumar said the incident had come to light yesterday and though the guards had been trying to trace the culprits, they had failed to find out as to why and who had chopped off the trees.

As per revenue records, the land was vested with the Education Department, though there was a proposal to transfer it to the Health Department for construction of flats for the staff.

The Forest Department, which had undertaken plantation on this land, had estimated the damage around Rs 35,000. Since the stumps, along with the chopped off wood, were found lying on the spot, the officials failed to understand the reason behind this act.

Since the land was near the Subathu-Kunihaar state highway, there was no proposal of carving any road from this land hence it appeared to be a case of mischief, added officials.

Shimla, June 9
Union minister Virbhadra Singh today called on Chief Minister PK Dhumal at Himachal Sadan in New Delhi and enquired about his health.

Dhumal, who was taken ill last week, had been undergoing treatment at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences from where he was discharged today.

The two were together for about 30 minutes. — TNS

Chamba, June 9
In HP, the literacy rate of 73.19 per cent has been recorded in Chamba district which is the lowest in the state. Lahaul and Spiti district occupies the second lowest position with the 77.24 per cent rate. 

The highest literacy rate has been recorded in Hamirpur district where the proportion of literates comes to 89.01 per cent followed by Una district with 87.23 per cent and Kangra district with the 86.49 per cent literacy rate.

As per the latest provisional figures of Census 2011 posted on the website by the Population Census India recently, the male literacy and the female literacy were 84.19 and 62.14 percent, respectively. 

The sex ratio of girls in Chamba district per 1,000 boys had been recorded at 989 with an increase of 30 points from the figures of the 2001 census, which puts it at 959.