Dharamsala, April 24
The government has asked the district administration, Una, to withdraw the criminal case against the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorjee.

Sources said a letter to this effect had been received by the office of Deputy Commissioner, Una, KR Bharti from the office of the Secretary, Home, Himachal Pradesh. The Deputy Commissioner had forwarded the letter to the district attorney for further action.

The Deputy Commissioner declined to comment on the matter. However, the sources said the Secretary, Home, ordered the withdrawal of the case against the Karmapa on the basis of legal opinion given by the district attorney, Una.

Earlier, the district administration, Una, on the basis of legal opinion given by the district attorney, had held that the case filed against the Karmapa was on weak grounds.

The ADM, Una, in a letter written to the Secretary, Home, had held that the application of the Karmapa seeking withdrawal of the case filed against him in an Una court should be considered on the basis of the legal opinion given by the district attorney, Una.

In his legal opinion, the district attorney had held that the Karmapa had been booked under Section 120-B of the IPC by the Una police. Though he had been named as a conspirator in the case, there was no collaborative evidence to prove the fact.

Counsel for the Karmapa Narendra Pal Singh had maintained that the Karma Garchen Trust wanted to buy some land to construct a permanent residence for the Karmapa. The Trust informed the office of the District Collector, Dharamsala, and received preliminary approval to proceed with the purchase of a piece of land nearby. An application seeking permission to buy land under the HP Land Tenancy Act was also filed.

The charge sheet filed in the court is mainly against the persons who are involved in selling the land to the Trust for a variety of allegations, including cheating and forgery. The Karmapa has been implicated only for conspiracy and only because he was the chairman of the Karma Garchen Trust.

The other nine accused in the case are KP Bhardwaj, a Dharamsala-based businessman from whose vehicle Rs 1 crore was seized, Sanjog Dutt, Baradwaj’s driver, Ashutosh, who was accompanying the driver in the vehicle, and Davinder Kumar, Manager of Corporation Bank, members of the Karma Garchen Trust Ragjey Choshang, Gompo Tsering and Tenzin Namgyal, and two Delhi-based Tibetan money changers, Rigzin Vagmo and her husband Karma Kukaekhampa.

The charge sheet has been filed against the accused under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 489-C and 120-B of the IPC.

Shimla, April 24
With the return of the breakaway group which floated a separate political outfit practically ruled out, the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) is gearing up for the Assembly poll so that it can field candidates in all 68 constituencies in the state.

The executive committee of the HLP will meet at Mandi on April 28 to chalk out its future strategy, especially in view of the fact that the Assembly poll could be held in the state by the end of October or early November. With there being remote chances of the return of the rebels to the BJP, HLP leaders have started preparing for the poll with the possibility of several candidates who are denied the ticket by the BJP and the Congress contesting from their party.

The HLP today announced the name of leaders who will be the in charge of the districts. State convener of the HLP Maheshwar Singh, along with KD Dharmani, vice-president, will take care of Kullu, Mandi, Hamirpur, Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur districts. Interestingly, Maheshwar Singh, a former state BJP chief, has chosen to take care of Hamirpur, the Chief Minister’s home district.

Another interesting name that has been entrusted the task of looking after Kangra is that of Dhairya Sushant, son of BJP Lok Sabha MP from Kangra Rajan Sushant. Sushant has already been suspended from the party for his anti-party activities and defiant nature. His son, along with former MLA from Pragpur Naveen Dhiman, will look after Kangra, which is the biggest and politically most significant district, along with Chamba.

Former minister Shyama Sharma will look after Sirmaur district while state general secretary of the HLP Dharam Chand Guleria will be the in charge of Solan and Bilaspur districts. Tikku Thakur, office in charge, will take care of Shimla district. “The BJP, plagued by infighting, is weary of the growing popularity of the HLP, which will make its presence felt in the Assembly poll,” said Thakur.

He ruled out the possibility of the return of the rebels to the BJP.

Shimla, April 24
Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi has asked senior party leaders to jointly work out a strategy to bring the party back to power in the state.

During the hour-long meeting with leaders in New Delhi today, she repeatedly stressed unity among senior leaders and said they were all responsible and experienced enough to know what was needed to be done.

The Congress chief asked them to sit together and prepare a blueprint for contesting the Assembly polls due later this year.

Party sources said the leadership issue was not brought up during the meeting in which senior Congress leaders Ahmad Patel and AICC general secretary and in charge of party affairs in Himachal Birender Singh were present in the meeting among others.

The focus was on carrying out proper planning in advance for the impending poll and specific issues were not discussed.

The charge sheet being prepared by the party against the Dhumal government was also discussed and Sonia asked senior leaders to go through it and carry out the necessary amendments, if required, to give it a final shape.

Birender was expected to visit the state soon to forge unity among party leaders and start the consultation process for working out the poll strategy.

Union Ministers Virbhadra Singh and Anand Sharma, PCC chief Kaul Singh, Leader of the Congress Legislative Party Vidya Stokes and former PCC Chief Viplove Thakur attended the meeting among others.

Mandi, April 24
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today launched a counter-attack ahead of the coming Assembly poll against the Congress alleging that its leaders were misleading the people on the issue of benami transactions. He said it was during the Congress regime that a large number of benami land transactions took place in the state as was revealed by a recent inquiry report.

Addressing two public meetings at Chauntra in Jogindernagar and Paddar in Drang today, Dhumal termed the Congress allegations regarding “Himachal on sale” as baseless.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated a building of the primary health centre (PHC) at Chauntra, a college building at Paddar and a PHC at Palli in the Drang constituency today.

At Chauntra, Dhumal claimed that the first inquiry report had revealed the real face of the Congress, which “has been misrepresenting facts before the public”.

“The government inquiry, conducted by a retired judge of the High Court, will submit its second report shortly,” he added, while referring to Mandi MP and Union Minister Virbhadra Singh’s recent attack against the BJP government.

Dhumal announced Rs 20 lakh for a sports stadium at Chauntra. Referring to the declining child gender ratio in the state, the Chief Minister urged the people to help check female foeticide. PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur alleged that the previous government had laid foundation stones without allocating funds.

At the Drang meeting late in the afternoon, the Chief Minister said the “BJP will have its MLA from Drang soon”. He gave Rs 2 lakh each for two local school boundary walls.

Drang BJP leader Jawahar Thakur, Milkfed chairman Mohan Joshi and Finance Commission chairman Dile Ram were among those present.

Hamirpur, April 24
Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Ramesh Dhawala has said if the financial position of the state allows the formation of new districts, the state government should immediately announce its formation, otherwise the proposal should be abandoned once and for all.

Talking to mediapersons at Nadaun today, the minister said: “If new districts are being created, then Dehra should also be made a district.”

On being asked about the ongoing spat between Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor and the Nurpur MLA in this regard, Dhawala said: “Their statements must be their personal opinions, but we must also keep this in mind that if we talk about the creation of new districts, more such demands will come from other areas.”

He said: “The final decision on the issue will be taken by the committee constituted by the BJP high command and he will place his views on the subject before this committee.”

In reply to a question about his choice to contest the next Assembly elections, the minister said: “I have been working in the Jwalamukhi Assembly constituency for so many years and, hence, will contest from there.”

The minister also inaugurated a community hall and a medical store at Nadaun earlier today. 

Shimla, April 24
Exercising its suo motu powers for the first time, the state Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission has issued notices to three private universities for violating admission norms and not complying with its directions.

The commission has taken a serious notice of the fact that sponsoring organisations which also have institutions outside Himachal Pradesh were issuing combined advertisements which created confusion about the courses being offered. It has issued a notice to Chitkara University for publishing misleading advertisements in newspapers which provide no clue about the courses offered by it at its campus in Baddi.

The commission has pointed out that as per the law of the state, the university can offer only the courses approved by the government. However, in the combined advertisement, the entity of the university has been completely subsumed and there is no specific mention of the courses offered at the campus located within the state. Some of the courses which have not been approved by the government figure in the combined advertisement. There are complaints regarding charging of fees for the next semester in advance from students in violation of the norms.

The university has failed to set up an independent website as directed and it has been maintaining only one portal for all campuses. It has been given two weeks to take corrective action failing which action will be initiated. The commission has already laid down the norms for admission to various courses for the 2012-13 academic session which have to be followed in letter and spirit.

Arni University has been issued a notice for offering diploma courses, MTech (part time) and PhD courses which have not been approved for the 2012-13 session. As per the UGC regulations, students can be admitted to universities only after Class XII onwards, but private universities in the state have been illegally offering diploma and integrated courses after Class X.

The commission has also taken notice of the migration of students from Baddi to the Dehradun campus by ICFAI (Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India) University. The commission issued a notice after parents of some affected students lodged a complaint with it. The university decided to shift the batch admitted last year as there were just 18 students. Set up only last year, the university is not offering any course at the Baddi campus in the ensuing session.

Shimla, April 24
The Himalaya Niti Abhiyan (HNA), an apex body of non-government organisations pursuing environment issues, has opposed an asbestos cement sheet plant proposed to be set up at Kheri village, near Nahan, in the private sector and urged the government to cancel the project.

Jointly raising the issue, the HNA and the Toxics Watch Alliance pointed out that promoting an industry known to cause incurable lung diseases to people was dangerous, particularly at a time when the Centre was planning a ban on it in view of its implications on public health.

Asbestos had already been banned in 55 countries and instead of allowing such industries, the government should take steps to make Himachal asbestos-free.

The Centre was not in the favour of new asbestos plants in the country and was considering phasing out the chrysotile asbestos to protect workers and the general population against primary and secondary exposure that caused cancer and other lung diseases.

They urged the government to take immediate steps to prevent environmental and occupational exposure to asbestos, besides non-occupational exposures to asbestos and related materials like asbestos cement sheets, asbestos cement pressure pipes and joints, asbestos cement flat sheets, asbestos cement building boards, asbestos cement cable conduits and troughs.

It was time the state should review its policy of promoting hazardous industries like chemical plants, dams and hydroelectric projects and mining, they added.

Dharamsala, April 24
A day after a leopard was rescued from atrap laid by poachers, a sambar died in the Thural area of Kangra district today.

Sources here said the sambar was spotted in a semi-conscious state by forest officials by roadside in Thural. They arranged a vehicle to carry the animal to Gopalpur zoo for treatment. However, the animal died en route.

Conservator, Forests-cum-Wildlife, Dharamsala, ARM Reddy, when contacted, said there were no external injuries on the animal. It seemed that it had either slipped from a slope in the area or was poisoned.

The sources, however, indicated that the sambar might have been poisoned. The theory that it slipped from a slope from the hills was unlikely as there were no external injuries on the animal.

There is a practice among farmers to keep poison wrapped in wheat flour rolls for wild boars that attacked their crop at night. It is likely that the sambar might have consumed a poison trap laid by farmers or poachers.

Sambars are found in the Shivalik mountain ranges in forest areas across Punjab and Himachal.

Hamirpur, April 24
The Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Board (HPSSSB), Hamirpur, will soon accept online applications to fill all posts to be advertised by the board in the future.

A proposal in this regard had been submitted to the state government some time ago. Chairman of the HPSSSB JK Chauhan will meet Chief Minister PK Dhumal to discuss the proposal.

Once introduced, all applicants would have the option of submitting their application forms for various posts advertised by the board online.

This will not only save the applicants the hassle of buying and posting application forms, but will also eliminate chances of loss of forms in postal transit.

The proposal had been submitted to the state government for sanction. A meeting between top officials of the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission and the HPSSSB will be held soon as the online application system is likely to adopted by both the agencies, involved in recruitment of candidates for government jobs.

Since many candidates live in far-flung areas which do not have the Internet facility, application forms in physical forms will also continue to be accepted.

Mandi, April 24
Facing the wrath of the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for opening its branches in “overbanked areas” in the state, Himachal Gramin Bank (HGB) is now planning to open its branches in the hitherto neglected areas of Chopal, Jubbal and Rohru in Shimla district and parts of Sirmaur district, where it has just four branches.

The HGB has covered 10 districts in the state. However, banking facilities elude people in Shimla and Sirmaur districts, claim HGB officials. Banks have started mobile and Internet banking. However, the HGB is yet to cover high hill areas in the state, they say.

Sources said the RBI had given a licence to open 14 branches of regional rural banks in 2011 in the state. However, the HGB had opened these branches in “over-banked areas” in the lower region while higher difficult areas had got a raw deal so far.

The HGB has opened its branches at Mohal (Kullu), Rati near Ner Chowk in Mandi, Hagwal and Nagrota-Bagwan, Bhoranj, Raili Mazri, Shah Talai in Hamirpur, Darlaghat near the Ambuja cement plant, Ketipura in Bilaspur and Nayagaon near the cement factory in Solan. The HGB has opened just one branch in a “hard area”, at Khoon in Ani subdivision in Kullu district.

Farmers in the apple belt of Dewat, Chopal, Nerwa, Kupvi in Chopal subdivision, Mandal, Hatkoti, Chaila in Jubbal-Kotkhai and Dodra Kwar in Rohru subdivision have no branch of the HGB.

Regional rural banks have not been able to open the new branches sanctioned by the RBI in time as they face a shortage of staff.

Chairman, HGB, SK Sharma said, “We have opened 14 branches in the state. We are planning to open 14 more, preferably in Shimla and Sirmaur districts.”

He said they had got fresh directions from the Finance Ministry not to open regional rural banks in “overbanked areas” and where Punjab National Bank (PNB) has its branches. PNB was the sponsor bank of the HGB, he added.

Shimla, April 24
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has condemned the reported move of the Himachal Government to make eight-week medical internship in modern medicine mandatory for ayurvedic doctors.

President of the state chapter of the IMA Harban Kapoor said the ill-conceived move would not only amount to encouraging quackery, but also erode the credibility of the ancient science of ayurveda which was getting recognition in countries across the world. The system of cocktail medicine the government proposed to introduce was fraught with serious implications and would play havoc with health services, he said.

In the modern era specialisation keeping track of one's own professional advancements had become an uphill task. The proposed move was nothing but a cruel joke on poor gullible patients. A modern medical practitioner should know the limits of the system in which he or she was trained and follow it. Moreover, even the court in Delhi had passed a ruling to not allow doctors from the Indian system of medicine to get training in allopathic institutions.

He urged the government to refrain from earning a dubious distinction of being the first state in the country to carry out such unscientific experiments which could have a serious fallout on the health of people and overall quality of medical services in the state.

Solan, April 24
With the state government implementing the Regulation for Maintenance of Standards of Higher Education with retrospective effect from July 2010 while notifying it in March this year, the HP College Teachers’ Association (HPCTA) has decided to revive its agitation and delay the evaluation work of undergraduate classes across the state.

Association’s state executive member RK Thakur said here today that they were opposed to implementation of these norms from retrospective effect as it was grossly unfair and unacceptable.

He added that as a mark of protest they would wear black badges and a token strike would be observed tomorrow by boycotting the evaluation work. If the issue was left undecided by the authorities of the Education Department they would proceed on an indefinite strike thus boycotting the evaluation work and other activities of the college.

Since these regulations deal with the Career Advancement Scheme and promotions of college and university teachers and other academicians, it should be implemented from prospective effect after the notification.

HPCTA members contended that instead of implementing it in letter and spirit from the date of notification, as was the practice in other states like Haryana, Delhi, Mizoram and various central universities, the state Education Department was misinterpreting it thus causing loss to the academic fraternity.

Despite the association submitting several clarifications, which were received from the UGC regarding interpretation of its various clauses, officials failed to do the needful. This has denied a chance of promotion to college teachers in the state, which were due since 2009.

The government was instead adopting delay tactics in holding the meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee.

Solan, April 24
The Lawrence School, Sanawar, will host the Round Square Senior Regional Conference from April 25 to 27 in which over 120 participants from 17 schools, including one from the Indian School, Oman, will converge to discuss their viewpoints.

This conference of schools is a worldwide association of over 80 schools that allows students to travel between schools, tour foreign countries, involve themselves in community service and discover other cultures along the way.

The three-day conference is aimed at selfless service towards mankind. The event will host guest speakers who will address student delegates and apprise them regarding the significance and need for social service.

Students in their “baraza” (Swahili word for meeting place) groups, namely “Helping Hands”, “Philanthropists”, “Givers”, “Contributors”, Angels” and “Kar Sevaks”, will hold group discussions on the theme “Serve and Find”.

Each “baraza” will comprise students from different schools and be moderated by a leader from the host school. Discussions will centre on the relevance of speakers’ messages in the lives of students, significance of service initiatives and ongoing social projects in their schools.

During the conference, the host will reserve one day for undertaking various need-based service activities and the “baraza” groups will visit the vermi- compost centre, oldage home, orphanage, leprosarium, ashram and the IGMC hospital in this regard.

Schools taking part in the conference include All Saints College, Nainital; Bangalore International School; MGD School, Jaipur; MNSS Rai, Pathways World School, Gurgaon; PPS, Nabha; Sanskar Valley School, Bhopal; Scindia Boys College, Gwalior; Assam Valley School, Assam; The Daly College, Indore; The Doon School, Dehradun; The Indian School, Oman; Vidya Devi Jindal School, Hisar; Vivek High School, Chandigarh; Welham Boys School, Dehradun; and YPS, Patiala, besides host The Lawrence School, Sanawar.

Praveen Vasisht, Headmaster, Lawrence School, said: “The conference will provide an ideal platform to students to understand one another and interact with prominent speakers.”

Manali, April 24
Shelly Sood of Raison village in Kullu district has qualified the Combined Defence Services examination and got a place of pride in the Union Public Service Commission merit list of 25 girls selected from all over India, bringing laurels to the Kullu valley. She has joined the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, and is going to serve the Indian Army as a Lieutenant.

Shelly says becoming an Army officer has been her dream since childhood and it is due to her determination and parents’ encouragement that it has come true. Adventure activities such as trekking, mountaineering and skiing are her hobbies.

She has won a bronze medal in the Giant Slalom event in the National Sub Junior Skiing Championship and participated in sports and other extracurricular activities.

She studied at Day Star School, Manali, and MCM DAV College, Kangra, and got B Tech degree in electronics and communication engineering from Panjab Technical University (PTU) in first division.

Her father Rajinder Kumar Sood retired from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali, and mother Reeta is posted in the same institute on deputation from the Himachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Department.

Hamirpur, April 24
Cultural programmes organised recently during the three-day zonal convention of the National Association of Students of Architecture (NASA)-12, on the campus of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hamirpur, has led to several controversies.

Organisers of the convention, who had invited architecture students and experts from this region, had also planned a grand show of cultural programmes for guests and local residents.

NASA is a student body through which undergraduate students of architecture aims to provide a platform for students of architecture and interact with each other.

The organising committee, which had roped in local cultural clubs to perform during this convention, had also invited artistes from outside, including Punjabi singer Honey Singh.

Since the singer was to be paid quite a heavy amount, organisers had put tickets for the show on sale at the rate of Rs 400 per person.

The decision to charge Rs 400 per person for a ticket for a cultural show was criticised by a majority of students.

In the past, artistes from students’ clubs had been performing during such programmes.

To add fuel to this controversy, the singer failed to perform in the programme leading to chaos during the cultural evening. Later, the organisers were forced to return the ticket money to audience.

During the third evening of the cultural function, some students belonging to different student groups clashed with each other and the police had to be summoned to control the situation. The matter was later resolved after the intervention of the NIT authorities.

The NIT authorities are maintaining silence on the matter. SP, Hamirpur, Kuldeep Sharma said: “There were reports of a tiff between students that was resolved amicably and no complaint was registered with the police.”