Mandi/Udaipur, October 21
Three tribesmen, led by the pradhan of the Thirot panchayat, Jagdish Kumar, have succeeded in locating the wreckage site of the ill-fated MiG-29 that crashed on Tuesday. The site has been traced to the base of the 18,000-foot-high Lot Nala peak in Udaipur subdivision in Lahaul-Spiti district.

However, there is still no clue to the missing pilot even after three days of aerial search.

This was confirmed by a joint rescue team of the Army and the IAF today.

Officials said the site was at a 10-km trek from Choghang village, which was located at a distance of 8 km from the Thirot project on the Keylong-Udaipur-Killar road, officials said.

The tribesmen brought back burnt components from Lot Nala yesterday. The Army and the district administration examined the components and confirmed that these belonged to the crashed MiG-29 that had lost link with the Adampur airbase at around 8.30 pm on Tuesday.

Interestingly, the rescue team today launched seven sorties to the wreckage site, but failed to locate the wreckage.

Villagers claimed that they had spotted a fireball flying across the Kugti Pass on Tuesday.

The spot from where the tribesmen recovered the burnt components can only be reached on foot. As a result, the Army rescue mission today decided to form three teams which will go to the wreckage site along with villagers to retrieve the remains of the plane and the missing pilot tomorrow. The wreckage may be spread over a wider area.

Lahaul-Spiti Deputy Commissioner Rajiv Shankar said it had been officially confirmed that the burnt components brought back by the villagers from the wreckage site were that of the MiG-29.

Shimla, October 21
It was a miraculous escape for four labourers who were trapped under the debris of a wall which collapsed while work was under way in Auckland House School here this morning.

A labourer being rescued from the mishap site near Auckland House School in Shimla on Friday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

The mishap took place in the morning while the labourers were engaged in the process of pulling down the old school building which had been declared unsafe after it got damaged due to the tunnel construction work being undertaken close by. However, the four labourers - Roop Lal, Sher Singh, Karag Bahadur and Chitra Bahadur - escaped with minor injuries as they were pulled out from under the debris.

In fact, the school authorities had obtained the necessary permission to construct a new building and work was on to pull down the collapsed old structure.

Shimla, October 21
The huge bank withdrawal of over Rs 10 lakh and gold ornaments by Amba Dutt Dhanta resulted in his domestic help, Amar Chaudhary, hailing from Bhagalpur in Bihar, allegedly murdering the 96-year-old man, who was living alone in the Sanjauli area of the town.

Police investigations into the murder of Dhanta, father-in-law of a retired Special Director-General of Police, Deepak Bhagai, have indicated that it was the lure of the huge cash and some gold jewellery lying in the house which proved fatal for Dhanta yesterday. It was only late in the evening that relatives discovered that Dhanta had been murdered.

The domestic help, who had been sent only three days ago by Bhagai from Mumbai, murdered the old man by attacking him with an axe and fled with the cash and jewellery. “We are trying to collect more details about the suspect, including his photograph, from his native place Bhagalpur in Bihar and also information about his relatives and friends in Mumbai so that we can track him down,” said Sonal Agnihotri, SP, Shimla.

Agnihotri said the suspect was not engaged through any agency but had been recommended by the watchman of the building where the deceased’s son-in-law lived in Mumbai. He had been sent here only three days ago to take care of Dhanta who resided on the top floor of his house, Ambika Cottage, alone while his relatives occupied the two lower floors.

The police investigations have revealed that the suspect attacked Dhanta with a small axe on the head and wounded him around noon. He also locked the dog in the kitchen before committing the crime and it was the persistent barking by the canine which alerted the relatives who came up to see that the main door of the house was also locked from outside.

The money had been withdrawn from the bank and kept at home though it is not certain why such a huge amount had been kept at home. 

Shimla, October 21
Having spent Rs 644 crore in three years on the construction of cement roads in violation of the norms under the MNREGA, Himachal is likely to get a reprieve and also some relaxation for future works in providing motorable connectivity to rural areas.

The assurance was given by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh during his recent visit to the state. “Our request for a review of the permissible works under the MNREGA and inclusion of construction of cement and pucca roads in villages as an activity under the scheme has been accepted as the minister assured us that some relaxation will be given,” said Jai Ram Thakur, state Minister for Rural Development.

He said the Union Minister assured that since the non-permissible works had been undertaken unintentionally, Himachal would not be penalised for it. “He has even assured us that a review of the permissible works will be undertaken and some relaxation will be given to allow the construction of pucca roads in view of the geographical constraints faced by the hill state,” said Thakur.

Thakur said Ramesh had said that Sikkim had been given some relaxation and as such Himachal, too, could get some relief. The ministry is learnt to have given concessions to some special-category states and Naxalite-affected areas.

Himachal faced the threat of deduction of this whopping amount of Rs 644 crore from its grants under the MNREGA as under the UPA flagship programme, motorable roads to provide connectivity to villages is allowed but not cement roads as has been done in most places. In fact, this amount of Rs 644 crore constitutes a significant portion of the total of Rs 1,510.20 crore received for works under the MNREGA in Himachal during the past three years.

Sources said officials in the central ministry had even agreed to allow construction of cement roads in Himachal but had said that it should constitute only a small percentage of the total works. In fact, the violation of norms in the construction of cement roads had come to light when the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) report pointed out the lapse in Chamba district.

The state government has worked out this amount spent on the construction of cement roads to Rs 644 crore. Himachal has also sought a change in the 60:40 fund ratio to be spent on labour and material under the MNREGA to at least 50:50.

Panjhera (Nalagarh), October 21
Kaul Singh Thakur, president, Pradesh Congress Committee, today tried to corner the ruling BJP on the issue of lack of development in the Nalagarh constituency by drawing reference to the allegations raised by the late MLA HN Saini.

He was addressing a public rally at Panjhera in the Nalagarh Vidhan Sabha constituency where a byelection was on the anvil.

Kaul Singh said since an MLA of the ruling BJP had himself levelled these allegations against their own Chief Minister, it was indicative of the actual state of affairs.

Though no official nominee was announced, he appealed to the people to sink their differences and vote for the Congress in the byelection.

Illustrating his point, Kaul Singh said no action had been taken against offenders in a case relating to irregularities worth Rs 11 crore in a local society, Rajpura Co-operative Society, despite lapse of a year. This spoke volumes about the government’s resolve to check corruption.

Continuing their tirade against sale of land to outsiders, the Congress leader said one lakh bighas of land had been sold out to non-Himachalis and the BJP was compromising on corruption.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes also referred to the late Nalagarh MLA HN Saini and said despite being the seniormost MLA in the district, he was ignored by not being given a ministerial berth.

He asked as to why his wife continued to support the BJP when her husband had received a shabby treatment from his own party.

She said funds sanctioned under various Central schemes like the MNREGA and NHRM were being misused.

They would hold a probe into the irregularities committed in these schemes, she said.

PCC secretary Ramkumar Chowdhary; PCC member Lakhwinder Rana; Satya Parmar, co-incharge, Solan district; heads of various frontal organisations, blocks; former MLAs Lajja Ram, Krishna Mohini and others; were among those who were present.

Shimla, October 21
Chief Minister PK Dhumal has told the corporate sector to discharge its social responsibility towards people of the state by contributing liberally towards developmental and welfare activities.

He was speaking on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Bhilwara Spinning Mills Group, which has executed the 86-MW Malana-I Hydro Electric Project in 30 months in Kullu district, here recently. The CM said various organisations were making liberal contributions towards development activities especially in creating quality sports infrastructure to channelise energy of the youth towards positive activities.

“Himachal is poised to emerge as a sports destination with quality infrastructure ,”  he said. — TNS

Shimla, October 21
The state high court today sought an explanation from the General secretary, HP Council for Child Welfare and the Secretary, HP State Red Cross Society, Shimla, on the issue pertaining to the facilities available in the school for visually challenged and hearing impaired children at Dhalli (Shimla) and directed them to file affidavit in this regard.

It further directed them to explain in affidavit whether there is any possibility of having Class XI at Dhalli School and if yes then what kind of infrastructural facilities are required for the same.

The court also asked them to state what further facilities could be provided at the school.

The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Surinder Singh passed these orders on the petition of four visually impaired persons - Sidharth Kumar, Tara Chand, Anurup Singh and Majid Mohammad - on the issue.

They further alleged that the government had failed to implement the instructions for the grant of employment to differently abled, especially visually impaired.

Dharamsala/Una, October 21
With Diwali round the corner, cases of fake “khoya” being imported into the state for making sweets have come to the fore.

The Una district administration has carried out a campaign two days ago. However, officials managed to seize eight bags allegedly carrying about 4.8 quintals of fake “khoya” this morning from a tourist bus.

Una Deputy Commissioner KR Bharti while talking to The Tribune said: “We had the information that fake “khoya” was being imported into the state from Delhi due to the festive season Initially, we carried out a search in buses and Himachal Express train, but without any success. Later we got information that it was being brought in buses during the night hours.”

“This morning we checked private tourist buses and found eight bags of fake khoya,” he said.

The driver of the bus, who has been detained, said he was told to deliver the consignment to Naresh Sharma at Kaku Dairy at Gaggal bus stand in Kangra district.

He was handed over the consignment at Sanoli village in Panipat district of Haryana. There was no paper accompanying the consignment. The driver was handed over the material and given some money for transporting it to Dharamsala, the DC said.

He said: “Earlier also we have recovered about three quintals “khoya” from a bus. The driver of the bus told that he was to deliver it to one Vinay in Una. However, nobody came to recover the material and we had to destroy it.”

The DC added that the Food And Civil Supplies Department had been asked to send samples of the confiscated “khoya” for chemical examination.

In Kangra district, Health Department officials confiscated 5 quintals of fake “khoya” at Nurpur yesterday.

Accused importing fake sweets can be booked under the new Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Though the Act was brought in 2006, its rules were framed in 2011 that has made its implementation possible.

Under the new Act, offenders can get sentence up to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh can also be imposed on them.

Since there was no paper accompanying the consignment, the Food and Civil Supplies Department should handover the probe to police to nab the culprits.