Shimla, March 7
The High Court today directed Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, MP from Mandi Lok Sabha, and the state government to file their replies on an application filed by former IAS officer SM Katwal for condoning the delay in filing the appeal against the duo's acquittal by a Special Judge, Shimla, in an alleged CD case.

While issuing notices, Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary directed all respondents to file their replies by April 17.

There is delay in filing the appeal. The acquittal order was passed on December 24, 2012, but the appeal was filed beyond the period of limitation.

Katwal has pleaded in his application that the technicalities of law cannot be made applicable strictly to the extent of snatching away the right to appeal earned by the victim.

He further contended that he was made to search for the relevant record for the purpose of preparing appeal and in this process, some delay had occurred, which was beyond his control.

Virbhadra Singh and his wife were acquitted on December 24, 2012 by a Special Judge, Shimla. Katwal had approached the High Court for seeking leave to file an appeal against the acquittal order. He has alleged that the state government had not filed any appeal against the orders as it was headed by Virbhadra Singh himself, the party in the case.

The applicant has also claimed that he was the 'victim'. As de facto complainant in the case, he had first filed a petition in the High Court, seeking directions for conducting a CBI inquiry. He had initiated legal proceedings culminating in registration of the criminal case.

Katwal has filed an appeal in the High Court challenging the duo's acquittal by the Special Judge (Forests), Shimla, in a corruption case involving an audio CD allegedly containing a conversation of Virbhadra Singh and Pratibha Singh with an IAS officer Mohinder Lal (now deceased) for obtaining pecuniary advantages from two companies.

Kullu, March 7
A raft carrying five tourists capsized in the Beas near Mohal in Kullu district.

A 55-year-old tourist from Visakhapatnam was killed while four others had a miraculous escape.

According to witnesses, the tourists boarded the raft, but after covering 150 m, it capsized. They said the mishap occurred due to failure of the guide to negotiate a curve in rapid water.

Sources said it was on hearing the shrieks of the tourists that local residents jumped into the river to save them. Deceased P Vishveshwarya Reddy died after his head banged against a boulder in the river. The possibility of his death on account of hypothermia due to freezing water or shock too cannot be ruled out.

After several fatal rafting accidents, the state government had laid down rules for rafting but in the absence of proper monitoring and checking by the agencies concerned, the situation is no different. This puts to risk the lives of those keen on a joyride, who are mostly tourists visiting the Kullu valley.

A regulatory committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner to enforce the river rafting safety rules.

Beas River Rafting Association president Sanjay Atri claimed that all operators followed the norms to ensure the safety of rafters.

It was learnt that inspections were undertaken to check the technical equipment of the rafts, but there were no special team to maintain a constant vigil.

In the absence of regular checking, operators become complacent, giving a go-by to the norms, including presence of a rescue team, and adhere to the restricted hours and also sometimes not hesitate using depleted or over-beaten equipment.

Deputy Director, Tourism, Ashwani Kumar said the department gave annual licences to the raft operators and guides. He maintained that the department checked the fitness of the rafts in April and October each year. He told that around 10 operators were penalised last year for violating the prescribed norms.

DSP Sanjay Sharma said the body had been handed over to the relatives after conducting a post-mortem examination and the exact cause of death would be known after the post-mortem.

He said the raft had been seized and the guide had been arrested. The DSP said a case under Sections 336 and 364 of the IPC had been registered.

Shimla, March 7
There is already an acute shortage of bureaucrats, leading to officers holding charge of six departments each. With the elections approaching, the situation in the state is likely to turn even more grave. As many as 39 officers are likely to proceed on election duty in various states for the Lok Sabha polls.

With only 67 IAS officers in the state against a strength of 103, the government is finding it increasingly difficult to find officers even for key posts such as Divisional Commissioner. Many senior officers’ secretariat are already holding charge associated with numerous departments.

Some officers have applied for a central deputation and nobody is due to return right now after completing a stint outside the state. Two middle-rung IAS officers RD Nazeem and Meira Mohanty have applied for a central deputation. Nazeem is currently holding the post of Directorate Energy, Registrar Cooperative Societies and Secretary, General Administration department (GAD).

The post of Secretary, GAD fell vacant after Subashish Panda proceeded on central deputation last month.

Another IAS officer of the 1993 batch, Anuradha Thakur, who was to return in April next month after a three-year stint with the World Bank in Washington, is learnt to have sought a one-year leave. A few officers have proceeded for mandatory training programmes that they are required to undergo at regular intervals.

"Currently, 32 IAS officers are on central deputation. In keeping with the Election Commission of India's requirement, another 39 will be proceeding for election duty in the next few days," confirmed SKBS Negi, Principal Secretary, Personnel and Power. He said in the present scenario, there was a shortage of bureaucrats.

Even though Himachal has a cadre strength of 149, with 32 officers currently on central deputation and other international agency assignments, the government is finding it difficult to have officers to fill up key posts.

A majority of those on deputation include those directly recruited in IAS and not the ones who have been inducted from state administrative services.

The cadre strength of promoted IAS officers is 44 and all of them are serving in the state. It is rare for IAS officers inducted into the All India Services from state services to seek central deputation.

Two years back, the cadre strength of IAS officers in the state was raised from 139 to 149. The situation is far from comfortable.

Senior bureaucrats in the secretariat admitted they were dreading the next two months. The period will see many of them being deployed on election duty.

Dharamsala, March 7
The temple trust of Bhagsunag was kept in the dark regarding the process of allotment of temple land on lease.

The only open space that is given on lease for a multi-storey mall at Bhagsunag

While addressing a press conference here today, Bhagsu residents alleged that a meeting of the temple trust was held on January 16 before the advertisements for allotment of the land on lease were released.

However, the agenda for allotment of the land on lease was not listed before the trust.

Omkar Nehria, a member of the trust, said about 10 kanals of the Bhagsu temple had been given on lease by the district administration for 50 years illegally.

The temple already had been earning about Rs 71 lakh per annum. So there was no need to give the open area of the temple on lease, he said.

Besides, the old temple committee had created assets such as an inn for pilgrims and a swimming pool that gets water from natural springs. The swimming pool is an attraction for tourists and is open for everyone. However, in the current lease, the district administration has leased out entire assets to a private company.

The Bhagsu residents alleged that since the land had been given on lease for 50 years, permission under Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act should have been taken from the government.

They alleged that local people who were running small kiosks along the temple had deposited Rs 30,000 to the temple trust for the construction of small shops about two years ago.

However, the district administration has not taken any step to construct the shops. Instead, it has made a move to lease out the entire property of the Bhagsu temple to a private person from outside the state.

Nehria alleged that the state government had been accusing the BJP of selling the state properties to outsiders. However, now the Congress was also doing the same.

During the stint of previous Congress government from 2002 to 2007, an open cafeteria of the Tourism Department was also leased a private person who has now raised a multi-storey mall there.

If the present temple land was leased out for the construction of the mall, hardly any open space would be left in Bhagsu, he alleged.

Meanwhile, the residents of Bhagsunag have threatened to launch an agitation if the district administration went ahead with its decision to hand over the prime temple property to private developers.

Shimla, March 7
Desperate to bring the leaders of Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) back to the party, the BJP has changed its strategy and started wooing HLP leaders individually.

The core committee of the HLP had turned down the offer to remerge with the BJP and the party is now targeting the leaders in individual capacity.

The efforts have yielded some results with HLP vice-president Dulo Ram rejoining the BJP with his supporters and BJP leaders claim that the return of another senior leader and former MLA Karam Dev Dharmani from Ghumarwin in Bilaspur is on the cards.

Party sources said as most of the HLP leaders were loyalists of former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, who is contesting from Kangra, the onus to bring them back into the party was more on him.

Some HLP leaders said Shanta Kumar had asked them to come back but most of them had not responded.

Shanta loyalists Khushi Ram Balnatah, Mohinder Sofat and Navin Dhiman are opposed to the idea of returning to the BJP.

A few leaders in the HLP are not happy with party chief Maheshwar Singh not inclined to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Mandi and say that if he contested the elections, the tag that he is soft towards Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would have been removed."

"We are trying to bring the old workers back into the party and most of the leaders would be back," said a senior BJP leader.

Some HLP leaders are sore over the refusal of Maheshwar Singh against contesting the poll as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate had shut the doors of merger of the HLP with AAP and the workers are confused about supporting the candidates in the poll.

Mandi, March 7
Sensing desertion by a few leaders from the party, the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) leadership is expediting a tieup with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and an understanding between the two is now on the cards.

The HLP core committee had taken a decision to extend its support to AAP candidates on all four seats in the state.

This is being considered a tactical move by the HLP to contest the election unitedly.

The two parties had discussed options for an alliance sometime back, but the AAP leadership had expressed its reservation on having an alliance with the party, saying their party constitution had no such provision.

HLP leaders had also been getting feelers from BJP leaders to rejoin the party as most of the HLP leaders belong to the BJP.

In fact, a few leaders were reportedly keen to rejoin the BJP, which became clear after senior HLP leader Dulo Ram joined it.

However, HLP leaders are refuting the talks of the HLP-AAP merger, but there are few options for them.

Sources say, “The AAP leadership is now planning to reach an understanding with the HLP.”

“National convener of AAP Arvind Kejriwal is in touch with the HLP leadership and both parties will unite to contest the election,” they say.

State convener of the HLP Maheshwar Singh said, “We have been saying from the beginning that there is a need to check division of votes between like-minded parties to defeat the BJP and the Congress and keeping this in mind, we have decided to support AAP candidates on all seats in the state.” 

Kangra, March 7
The Congress party is ready to contest the Lok Sabha elections on development plank, said state Transport Minister GS Bali at his residence here today.

He was addressing a press conference, where he said All-India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi was supposed to tour Kangra district on March 8, but the visit was postponed due to the Central Election Committee’s meeting.

He said Congress candidates would be announced before March 10.

He said virtually two BJP MPs were confronting each other, adding that the BJP was moving on a double-edged sword, where on the one hand BJP MP Shanta Kumar was in fray, while on the other former BJP MP Rajan Sushant was also contesting on AAP ticket.

He said the Congress party was aware about the BJP’s weaknesses, but despite that, the party would fight the elections on development plank.

Citing several examples, he said various medical colleges, including DRPGMC Tanda, Rs 700 crore ESI Medical College at Sundernagar, different engineering colleges, Central University at Dharamsala, IIT and other projects, were set up in the state by the Congress government. He said besides increasing subsidised gas cylinders from nine to 12, subsidised food was also being supplied to both BPL and APL families.

He said the BJP had nothing to present to the people of the country and was a divided house.

He said they were solely dependent on Modi, who claimed development of Gujarat. He said other states were far more developed than Gujarat and that this issue would not affect their party in the upcoming polls.

Dharamsala, March 7
The re-induction of rebels into the BJP has given a fillip to the party. The BJP has managed to rein in many dissidents who had damaged the prospects of party candidates in the last Assembly elections.

Rakesh Pathania, a BJP leader from Nurpur, was denied the ticket in the last Assembly elections after Shanta Kumar's opposition. He contested as independent and finished second while the BJP candidate was on the third position.

However, as Shanta Kumar is now contesting from Kangra, he has softened his stance against Pathania and allowed his re-entry into the party which will benefit the party in Nurpur.

Yesterday, Dulo Ram, former MLA and prominent Gaddi leader, also joined the BJP. Dulo Ram had also been ousted from the BJP due to his differences with Shanta and allegations that he had opposed candidate of the BJP Rajan Sushant in the last parliamentary elections.

He then joined the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) and contested from Palampur. He got 6,000 votes that led to the defeat of BJP candidate Parveen Sharma. The re-entry of Dullo Ram will benefit the BJP in Palampur and Baijnath.

Sanjay Guleria, another BJP rebel who contested the Assembly elections as independent from Jawali, has already joined the party. Sources said another dissident leader Naveen Dhiman from Jaswan, Paragpur, might be re-inducted into the party.

However, the damage done to the BJP due to dissidence in the Assembly elections might not be undone. Manohar Dhiman, now an independent MLA from Indora, and Pawan Kajal, an independent from Kangra, were also BJP dissidents. Both MLAs are now associate members of the Congress in the Assembly. They are unlikely to return to the BJP.

Speculation about the re-induction of Kamala Patial, president of the Dharamsala Municipal Council and BJP rebel, was also doing rounds. She also contested as independent from Dharamsala in the Assembly elections and was one of the factors behind the defeat of BJP candidate Kishan Kapoor.

She has not been re-inducted into the party as yet due to the strong opposition from Kishan Kapoor and his supporters.

Besides the re-induction of rebels, the early selection of candidate is also working in favour of the BJP. Shanta has already started campaigning in Kangra.

On the other hand, the Congress is yet to decide its candidate from Kangra. The names of former MP Chander Kumar and Union Minister for Culture Chandresh Kumari are doing the rounds. The Congress is yet to start its campaigning from Kangra.

Shimla, March 7
Senior leaders of the Congress today thanked Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for sanctioning a medical college for Hamirpur along with Chamba and Nahan.

Giving credit to the Chief Minister for getting a medical college sanctioned for Hamirpur from the Centre, the leaders, including Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, MLA Rajender Rana, former president All-India Mahila Congress Anita Verma, Prem Kaushal and Kuldeep Singh Pathania, said the Chief Minister had always stressed on equal and balanced development of the state.

Shimla, March 7
Chief Electoral Officer Narinder Chauhan today directed all District Election Officers (DEOs)-cum-Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to daily send a report regarding electioneering and law and order situation to ensure free and fair elections in the state.

He said with the announcement of election date (May 7) for Himachal, the model code of conduct has been enforced and all matters related to the code of conduct would be dealt with promptly. Interacting with DEOs through videoconferencing from Shimla, he directed them to adhere to the instructions regarding electoral rolls, special campaign, election management, Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), constitution of plan, and randomisation of polling personnel.

The CEO also enquired about the current status of the preparation of various plans, including district election plan, communication plan, transportation plan, counting plan, district security plan, sector magistrate plan, vulnerable mapping of polling stations, identification of critical polling stations and hyper sensitive polling stations.

Besides starting a toll-free helpline in each district, he also directed officials to set up control rooms at district or ARO level to facilitate voters.

To provide basic minimum facilities, all polling stations have been video graphed as per the ECI guidelines, he added.

Chauhan told all DEOs not to make any amendments in the electoral rolls without ECI’s approval.

He said special awareness campaigns for the enrollment of left out eligible voters should be held at each polling station in which booth level officer (BLO) would read out the voters’ list for the information of the general public and if their names were missing, then the person concerned should fill form No-6 on the spot so that his name could be added to the list.

He requested them to make necessary arrangements for organising the camp at each polling station. He also asked them to organise a meeting with the representatives of various political parties to inform them about the camp and to seek their cooperation.

He directed them to launch an intensive campaign under SVEEP for the purpose. The DEOs apprised the CEO that the Election Expenditure Monitoring Mechanism has been put in place.

Shimla, March 7
Even though the demand for videography of interviews for various government jobs is gaining ground, the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) doesn’t seem to be ready for it.

HPSC chairman KS Tomar addresses mediapersons in Shimla on Friday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

“It is certainly a good step, but keeping in view the apprehension expressed by people that this will put the chairman and members of the interview board at risk, there is no proposal to start it as yet,” said KS Tomar, chairman, Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) in an informal interaction with mediapersons here today.

Tomar said Shimla had been selected as the venue for the holding the 17th National Conference of Chairmen of various State Public Service Commissions and the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission to be held next year.

“It will be a matter of pride for Himachal to organise the conference in which serious issues concerning various commissions will be discussed,” he said.

He said the final date of the conference was yet to be decided, but it is likely to be held sometime in April-May next year. He said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had assured of all possible help that was required for holding the conference.

Tomar said as a result of the several initiatives, including starting of a toll-free helpline taken by HPPSC, the rejection percentage of forms being filled by candidates for various jobs had come down. “It is due to our efforts that Himachal will soon become the first state in the country to introduce aptitude test at the school, college and university level for students so that they can know what job and career they are suited for,” he revealed.

He said very soon work on the Rs 2.80 crore new block of the HPPSC would begin. Besides creating facilities for the candidates appearing in various exams, we intend to set up a library, replete with study material required for various entrance exams, including the ones held by us as well as the UPSC. “This will be a big facility for students from the rural areas, who owning to financial constraints and exposure are at a disadvantage as compared to students from urban areas,” he said.

Kangra, March 7
Transport Minister and Chairman of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation GS Bali today warned employees of the HRTC that neither gate meetings by them would be allowed nor indiscipline tolerated at any cost. However, he assured them that their genuine demands would be looked into at the March 9 meeting to be attended by him and employee leaders.

HRTC employees raise slogans in support of their demands in Shimla on Friday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

Addressing a press conference at his residence here today, Bali said employees had two major demands, 4-9-14 time scale and 48-hour roaster issue, and both issues would be dealt with during the meeting to be held either in Kangra or Dharamshala. “They understand me and I understand their problems,” Bali said.

He said the previous BJP government, led by PK Dhumal, left HRTC in a financial mess with Rs 387 crore liability. The 48-hour roaster was started during the BJP government leaving both HRTC employees and the corporation in the lurch.

Bali said a three-member committee, comprising the HRTC Managing Director, the Special Secretary, Finance, and the Special Secretary, Transport, was dealing with the time-scale issue and its recommendations were awaited. The dearness allowance would be given to HRTC employees depending on the availability of funds.

The minister said his first priority was pensioners so that they could get their pension and gratuity well in time despite the fact that there was a deficit of Rs 50 crore in the pension fund deposit and a Rs 12-crore deficit in gratuity fund. The modalities in this connection were being discussed with the HRTC authorities. “I am committed to getting them their dues at any cost,” Bali said.

He said the state government felt that HRTC and the transport sector needed an utmost attention.

HRTC employees had threatened to resort to an agitation from March 11 in support of their demands, which included making HRTC as a roadways and nationalisation of the public transport.

Una, March 7
Indus International University (IIU) organised a festival, Masterik-14, at Bathu village here today. It was aimed at creating innovation and promoting engineering skills and techniques among students. Engineering and management students from Jaypee University, Lovely Professional University, Chandigarh University, Mata Gujjari College, Hoshiarpur, KC College, Pandoga, SVSD College, Bhatoli, and Shiwalik Polytechnic, Una, participated in the event.

Eminent scholars presented papers on engineering and management topics.

Speaking on the occasion, IIU Chancellor Sudhir Kartha said the university had tied up with the University of Science and Management, Malaysia, for providing facilities of doctorate studies to teaching faculty here.

Students of IIU would be given a facility of obtaining dual degrees after tie-ups with foreign universities. Students would be given a chance to study abroad, he said.

Shimla, March 7
For filing a frivolous appeal against the compensation awarded by a trial court to claimants in a vehicular accident case, the High Court today imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on Oriental Insurance Company.

Dismissing an appeal filed by the insurance company, Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir observed that the compensation was just to help the victims in order to save them from destitution and other evils and the procedural wrangles and technicalities had no role to play.

The Acting CJ further said the claim petitions were a social welfare legislation and the victims should not be shown the door on account of hyper technicalities and niceties of law.

Shimla, March 7
Governor Urmila Singh today felicitated the women in the state on the eve of International Women's Day. She said women were marching ahead in every sphere, adding that any society that respects women and provided them with equal opportunities progresses ahead.

The Governor said the women in the state were progressive and contributing towards the development of the country and the state as well. — TNS

Shimla, March 7
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved a proposal to extend the status of the Institute of Integrated Himalayan Studies (IIHS) as Centre with Potential for Excellence in Particular Area (CPEPA) till March 2017. It has decided to provide it a financial assistance of Rs 7 crore.

It has appreciated the performance and accomplishments of the institute. The development comes even as the Himachal Pradesh University has turned down the demand for regularisation of services of the institute's staff and brought them under "self-financing scheme".

A UGC team headed by Prof Maitri Chaudhary, which visited the institute on October 23, 2013 for evaluating the performance and accomplishment of the institute, recommended its continuation with financial assistance.

The report of the expert committee was placed at the 498th meeting of the UGC held on February 27 and the UGC approved the proposal to extend the status of the institute as Centre with Potential for Excellence in Particular Area (CPEPA) till March 2017, the Institute Director Prof Rajinder Singh Chauhan said.

The institute came into existence in 2002, has compiled more than 60 status reports, completed more than 100 research projects, compiled more than 15 databases, published 36 books and printed nearly 100 monographs. The institute is publishing its own research journal. The starting of innovative academic programmes like Master of Fine Arts (Pahari miniature painting), MBA (rural development) and MSc (environmental science) are landmarks in the institute's history.

Prof Chauhan said the UGC appreciated that it was the only institute in the entire North-West Himalayas where multi-disciplinary research is undertaken with collaborations and linkages at national and international levels and the thrust areas of research are highly relevant in the contemporary context.

The UGC also lauded the efforts of the institute in generating and synthesising the knowledge required for effectively utilising the Himalayan resources, activities undertaken by the institute to help the policymakers and stakeholders by providing concepts, strategies, solutions and focusing on inclusive development of the Himalayan region.

During the presentation of its future vision, the institute proposed to launch new academic programmes like starting Masters of Public Health, certificate course in counselling, post-graduation in archaeology, Hindi journalism, human rights and duties, and defence and strategic analysis.

The institute is likely to concentrate on natural resources and water management, socio-economic and political systems, history, culture and religion, governance for sustainable development in Himalayas and Biodiversity Conservation and indigenous technical knowledge for sustainable development in future.

The grant of Rs 7 crore will help the institute in strengthening its infrastructure facilities for effectively running the present/proposed academic programmes and setting up of Himalayan Heritage Museum, added Chauhan.

Shimla, March 7
Buoyed by the success of four mobile canteens selling eatables, bakery products and vegetables, prison authorities are planning to start polyhouses for the cultivation of off-season vegetables.

The idea is to expand dairy activities and boost the participation of prisoners in income-generating activities.

ADGP, prisons, SR Mardi said mobile vans, launched in October 2013, were doing a brisk business. Within 18 months, another vehicle would be bought by the funds generated from these mobile vans, he said.

The mobile van at Shimla is selling snacks and hygienic food. It runs out of stock within two hours due to a heavy rush. In Dharamsala and Solan, the vans are selling vegetables while in Nahan. The van is selling bakery products and vegetables.

Himachal is also the first state to start video-conferencing between prisoners and their family members. It saves family members from the ordeal of taking up long-distance journeys, especially when the families are living far away.

Under the new system, visitors can register themselves for the interview by giving details of their identity card and other relevant information. After receiving the information, a pin number is given to the prisoner to connect through video-conferencing and then the chat is recorded.

The facility prevents transfer of goods and also helps in “cross checking” the statements of the accused and results in speedy and quality investigations.

A mechanism has been evolved to help family members of jail inmates while the concept of open barrack has been extended to Kanda (Shimla), Solan, Nahan, Mandi, Dharamsala and Chamba.

Conduct, character, family background and parole of the prisoners were taken into consideration to avail this facility. At present, about 15 per cent of the convicted prisoners had been extended this facility, he said.

“The open air facility helps in skill development, instills confidence and provides alternate modes of livelihood to inmates on their release from jail,” Mardi said.

Chamba, March 7
The Rogi Kalyan Samiti of the Regional Hospital here, to provide better health facilities to local people, has spent Rs 2.29 crore during the current fiscal year, which is going to end on March 31.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kadam Sandeep Vasant, who is also the chairperson of the samiti, said here today that the samitti had generated a revenue of Rs 2.99 crore during the current fiscal. The DC said the samitti had distributed free medicines, costing Rs 31.45 lakh, to patients belonging to below the poverty line (BPL).

Orders had been placed to purchase new apparatus for the hospital during emergency cases, the DC said, adding that for the purchase of a new wheel chair, the process had been accomplished. He said for various clinical tests of patients, a laboratory facility would be available 24 hours at the Regional Hospital. —OC

Mandi, March 7
The State Bank of Patiala opened its new branch at Beas Sadan in Bhiuli here today. It was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar.

Satvinder Chhabra, Assistant General Manager of the bank, said the branch had been started under the financial inclusion scheme to cater to people of the area. As a large number of government employees and pensioners were living in the area, the bank was mulling over keeping the branch open on Sundays, he said.