Dharamsala, March 12
Members of a Tibetan women association today organised a protest rally in Dharamsala against the alleged atrocities being committed on Tibetans by the Chinese government.

The members of the Regional Tibetan Women’s Association started their march from McLeodganj carrying banners and placards. They marched down to Kachehri crossing lower Dharamsala, where they organised a rally. Most of the participants in the march were students of the Tibetan children of village schools.

Tenzin Dekyi, spokesperson for the association, told the media that the oppressive policies of the Chinese government in Tibet are pushing Tibetans towards attempting self-immolations.

Since Tapey attempted self-immolation on February 8, 2009, as many as 104 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet. Out of this, 87 have perished and the status of the rest was unknown. All of them demanded that the Dalai Lama should be allowed to return to Tibet.

The members of the Tibetan women’s association alleged that the self-immolations illustrate that the Tibetans are unsatisfied with the status of occupation and the harsh policies being implemented in Tibet by China. The oppressive rule has incited greater resistance and acted as a catalyst to increase the number of self-immolations as well as peaceful demonstrations, they alleged.

The association refuted the allegations being made by the Chinese government that the self-immolations in Tibet were being incited by the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration based in Dharamsala.

They alleged that the Chinese authorities have used brutal force against the non-violent protesters in Tibet. There are many cases in which participants in peaceful protests were killed after the Chinese troops opened fire on them.

Even the kin of those who self-immolated in Tibet were being prosecuted and harassed by the Chinese authorities, the association alleged.

The association comprises of 16,000 members across the world. The organisation has become active in the last two years and has actively participated in the protests being organised against China in India and other countries.

Shimla, March 12
The hunt for the new Director-General of Police (DGP) seems to have begun with the government seeking repatriation of 1985-batch IPS officer Sanjay Kumar, currently posted as Chief Security Officer with North Central Railway in Patna.

The state government today sent a letter to the Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India, seeking Sanjay Kumar’s repatriation. He is scheduled to return in June, but the process of his early return seems to have been initiated keeping in view the fact that incumbent B Kamal Kumar is due to retire on July 31 this year. As such there is speculation that Sanjay Kumar will be made the new DGP.

With the abrupt removal of ID Bhandari from the post of DGP in the backdrop of the phone tapping issue last month, B Kamal Kumar was given the reins of the police. With the DGP having only a short time before superannuation, the ball has been set rolling for the selection of the new DGP. Both B Kamal Kumar and Bhandari are from the 1982 batch and the latter is due to retire in April 2014.

With no IPS officer, not even the three senior-most -- Somesh Goyal (1984 batch), Sanjay Kumar (1985 batch) and SR Mardi (1986 batch) completing 30 years of service, a mandatory condition before being elevated to the post of DGP, the government is facing a piquant situation.

Goyal and Sanjay Kumar are on deputation while Mardi is Additional Director General of Police (CID). If the government does not find anything against Bhandari in the phone tapping case, he may make a comeback even though the possibility of that happening soon seems bleak.

While Goyal will complete 30 years of service in 2014, Sanjay Kumar will be eligible for the post only in 2015. With Goyal unlikely to find favour with the Congress regime, it is being felt that Sanjay Kumar will succeed B Kamal Kumar.

“The state government can always cite exceptional circumstances as the reason for making him the DGP as he does not fulfil the condition of 30 years of service,” an official has said.

Mardi will complete 30 years of service in 2016 and is due to retire in 2019. Sanjay Kumar will retire in 2018 while Goyal has the longest stint as he is due for superannuation in 2021.

Shimla, March 12
Jagat Singh Negi, the MLA from Kinnaur constituency, was unanimously elected Deputy Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha here today.

Negi’s name was proposed by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister Vidya Stokes and Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri. The election was scheduled for tomorrow but it was advanced by a day, for which a resolution was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Agnihotri. Negi has been elected to the Vidhan Sabha for the third time.

During the question hour, Virbhadra informed Rohit Thakur of the Congress that the cost of the Theog-Hatkoti road upgrade project had increased from Rs 228 crore to Rs 304 crore and fresh tenders would be called for completing the remaining work. So far, Rs 70.67 crore had been spent and the revised proposal had been submitted to the World Bank for approval.

About 17.79 hectares of private land had been acquired for the project and Rs 14.29 crore had been paid as compensation. The road was being maintained by the Public Works Department since August 2012 and adequate machinery was being deployed to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

Replying to another question, Virbhadra said the proposed four-lane Parwanu-Shimla highway would help reduce the distance by 17 km. The project is estimated to cost Rs 2,730 crore and involves 105 hectare forest land. So far, no forest or private land has been acquired and the National Highway Authority of India has moved the cases with the authorities concerned.

The salient features of the project include bypasses at Kandaghat and Shimla, 11major bridges and 5 rail over bridges. The construction work on the project is likely to start by February 2014 and will be completed within three years.

Shimla, March 12
The telephone tapping case will be probed by the state Vigilance Department and the government did not hand it over to the CBI.

Stating this while interacting with mediapersons here today, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the matter would be investigated and those behind the illegal phone tapping would be held accountable. A case would be registered after the probe was completed.

Virbhadra said former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, who was in charge of the house, and the two police officers, during whose tenure telephones were intercepted, could not absolve themselves of their responsibility.

He denounced the BJP tactics to disrupt proceedings of the house on the very first day of the session and said it was the “guilt” factor which had forced the party to adopt such posture on the issue.

The saffron party received a drubbing at the recent Assembly polls and lost power. Defeat in the elections should have made the party leaders humble and forced them to introspect but they were trying to divert attention by resorting to such tactics.

The people had rejected the party and it had no real issues to raise in the house. However, such an approach would not take it anywhere, he said.

The BJP regime crossed all limits and the room in which he stayed at the Himachal Bhawan in Chandigarh was bugged, Virbhadra alleged. The matter was under investigation and would be taken to logical conclusion, he added.

Shimla, March 12
Accusing the Congress of make political capital out of the phone tapping issue, Leader of Opposition PK Dhumal today dared Virbhadra Singh to prove that he had a hand in illegal phone tapping or stop making false insinuations.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he asked how Congress leaders could reel out figures and furnish other details of phone tapping every day if the government could not reveal the details. He alleged that the Congress was misleading the people to derive political mileage.

He claimed that it was not the first time the Congress regime was resorting to such tactics. He charged the Congress with exploiting the computer hard disc issue politically during its previous tenure from 2003-07 even though nothing came out of it.

He claimed that the report of the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Hyderabad was received in 2003, but the issue was dragged till the Congress remained in office.

Citing the example of the audio compact disc issue and the conversation between a Chief Secretary and a politician which surfaced in 1990, he said it was obvious that conversation had been intercepted earlier as well when Virbhadra Singh was at the helm. Was he responsible for it as Chief Minister, Dhumal asked.

He said the BJP had been demanding a probe by a sitting High Court Judge into the phone tapping issue so that the truth could be revealed and action taken against the guilty.

He alleged that the Congress had done nothing except political vendetta after coming to power and the manner in which it had been reversing decisions of the BJP government and changing names of schemes named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were glaring examples of it.

He said the BJP wanted to give more time to the government to perform, but the vindictive approach of the Congress government, which even de-notified some colleges opened by the BJP regime, forced it to take a strong stand.

He said the colleges were closed even though admissions had taken place. He added that ruling parties changed and the government functioned in continuity, but the Congress was bent on undoing the good work of the previous regime.

Nurpur, March 12
A team of experts from the Agriculture Department and the Regional Horticulture Research Centre (RHRC) at Jachh visited the fields of tomato growers at Lagor under the Ganhi-Lagor panchayat today to examine the mysterious disease that had hit the bumper tomato crop.

The plight of tomato growers was highlighted in these columns on Monday. They were led by RHRC Associate Director SS Rana. After examining the crop, he said the disease was late blight, a fungal disease which usually gripped tomato and
potato crops due to change of weather in warm and humid conditions.

“The growers have been advised to destroy the decayed produce and plants. They should use the fungicide spray Ridomil-MZ by mixing 2.5 grams of it per one litre of water. They have also been advised to cultivate tomato in rotation,” he said. He added that growers had used a wrong fungicide spray on the crop which had shown adverse effects.

One killed in road mishap
Our Correspondent

Palampur, March 12
One person was killed when his car met with an accident near Billing, 40 km from here, yesterday. The police said the accident took place near a famous paragliding site when Anil, a resident of Sukhabag, failed to negotiate a sharp curve and rolled down into a 300-feet gorge along with the car. His body was spotted next day by the labourers working on the road. They informed the Baijnath police. Manmohan Sharma, DSP, Palampur, along with his team immediately reached the spot and extracted the body from the deep gorge.

He said it could be an accidental death. However, parents of Anil Kumar alleged that it was a murder and his body along with the car was thrown in the gorge in the dense forest. Anil’s body was handed over to his parents after a post-mortem examination today.