Shimla, March 23
Chief Minister Virbhadra today said though BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was being projected as a larger-than-life figure, a lot of questions were being raised on his leadership, resulting in the struggle within the party.

Addressing a press conference here, Virbhadra said who the BJP chose as its PM candidate was its matter, but one could not overlook the fact that his leadership had led to many senior leaders being ignored.

"The manner in which the electronic media is going overboard showing Modi 24X7, it appears that he is 'political amritdhara' which is the answer to all problems under the sun," he remarked.

Virbhadra said it was not that the media loved Modi, but it was more of a commercial transaction. "Those who have the resources can buy the time of television channels by putting in advertisements," he said.

The Chief Minister said Modi was not a new face in Himachal, where he was involved with two Assembly elections which the BJP had lost. He added that he had a lot of respect for Modi and had nothing against him, but reality could not be ignored.

He also contested the BJP claims of Modi rally at Sujanpur in Hamirpur being unprecedented and added that people had been ferried from Punjab, Jammu and Haryana. "The capacity of the ground is not so huge and, moreover, half of the portion was used for landing of the helicopter and for the parking of VIP vehicles," he said. The Congress rally, addressed by Rahul Gandhi in Dharamsala, was much larger in terms of attendance of the local public.

The Chief Minister in reply to a query said he never underestimated any election or the other party's strength and put in hard work to ensure victory. "The Congress will win all four Lok Sabha seats but you cannot say there is no contest in Mandi or anywhere else as no election can be taken lightly," he remarked.

He said the election would be a referendum on the UPA regime performance, but the development works undertaken by the state government would also count.

"The allegations by the BJP that our government has purchased sophisticated equipment for phone tapping is false and Dhumal's figment of imagination," he said. The former Chief Minister was making baseless allegations due to fear of the filing of the charge-sheet in the phone-tapping case in court.

When asked if corruption would be an issue in the elections, he said he really hoped it would be but the BJP was in no position to even talk about it. In reply to the prospects of Hamirpur sitting MP Anurag Thakur, he said he was a handsome young man who was a page three figure seen more in Dubai and Mumbai than in his segment." I wish him well but he is more of a poster boy than a serious politician," he remarked.

Shimla, March 23
With national issues dominating the poll scenario, Himachal has always witnessed a low turnout, invariably below 60 per cent in the parliamentary poll as compared to the Assembly elections.

The relatively low turnout in the Lok Sabha poll is an issue weighing on every political parties' mind. Efforts have been stepped up to ask their workers to encourage people at the grassroot level to cast their vote even in the Lok Sabha poll. With the polling date being May 7 when the weather will be good, the turnout is expected to be higher.

The fact that in the elections, people do not have a direct contact with the candidate who will represent 17 Assembly segments, there is disinterest among the voters. Moreover, with there being less candidates contesting from each of the four Lok Sabha seats, the people are not too interested in casting their vote. The maximum interest in polling is shown by the dedicated party cadres of the two main political parties, the Congress and the BJP.

To ensure a higher turnout, the Election Commission of India too has been holding electorate awareness programmes. Schoolchildren have been involved in a big way and the services of over 15,000 management committees in the schools are being taken to spread the message to every home so that polling percentage increases.

Another reason for the low turnout in poll is the fact that the main poll issues are national. An issue which is more localised or closer to the heart of the people compels them to walk up to the polling booth. Moreover, the candidates in the Assembly elections make efforts to even ferry the voters but that is not possible in the Lok Sabha polls.

In the last Lok Sabha poll in 2009, the voting percentage was a mere 58.4 per cent and in the 2004, it stood at 59.7 per cent. The highest ever polling in the parliamentary elections has been in 1998 when it touched 65.3 per cent and the second highest at 63.9 per cent in the 1989 poll.

On the other hand, the polling in the Assembly elections has been much higher and in the last poll in December 2012, it stood at over 74 per cent . Even prior to that, the polling percentage in most of the Assembly polls has been above 70 per cent.

Shimla, March 23
Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) president Maheshwar Singh and senior leaders Shyama Sharma and Babu Rama Mandyal today termed the BJP a divided house.

They declared that the HLP was planning Vision 2017 for the Assembly elections and any merger talk with the BJP was a closed chapter now.

The BJP had no respect for senior leaders such as LK Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Jaswant Singh as it became a one-man party, they charged.

Addressing a press conference, the HLP leaders trashed media reports that HLP leaders had joined the BJP. The party stood behind Maheshwar Singh and there was no reason why they would leave the party and join the BJP, said Shyama Sharma, an HLP leader from Nahan.

She further said the BJP only promoting its PM candidate Narendra Modi while giving a raw deal to senior leaders. The HLP would never compromise on corruption, an issue on which they left the BJP and formed the HLP, she added.

Commenting on the proposed BJP-HLP merger, Maheshwar claimed that none of 24 HLP leaders reported in the media had joined the BJP. Those who left the party to join the BJP were welcome to do so but they need to answer as to how they would face people while submitting the 108-page documents against the BJP to the Governor, he asked sending a poser to Khushi Ram Balnatta, Dulo Ram and others.

He said the HLP core group at its two meetings in Sundernagar and then in Shimla had decided not to merge with the BJP and support AAP. Certain leaders were raising the issue to create confusion, which was deliberate, he added.

He said they were still open for merger with AAP but they had not received any feeler from the party. The party opposed nepotism and "aya ram gaya ram" culture. Pratap Singh, Chet Ram Negi, Ninju Ram and others have condemned media reports that they had left the party and joined the BJP, he claimed.

On why he did not contest from Mandi, Maheshwar Singh said the party was supporting AAP and was planning for the 2017 Assembly elections. The party did not want to divide the non-Congress and non-BJP votes, he claimed.

He said they was relieved that the BJP failed to come to power in 2012 Assembly elections. “I have gone to Virbhadra Singh’s residence as his relative and met Satpal Satti as they are members of the Vidhan Sabha committee. They cannot sever their relations because of politics”, he claimed. 

Shimla, March 23
The BJP faces a "leadership void" in Mandi while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) continues to struggle to register its presence. Both parties have failed to declare their candidates against Congress candidate Pratibha Singh, who has already kicked off her campaign.

AAP is yet to find a candidate for the Shimla (Reserved) seat. BJP candidate Virender Kashyap and Congress candidate Mohan Bragta have already launched their campaign in Shimla to woo voters.

The BJP's effort to rope in Maheshwar Singh, founder of the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), back to the party fold, has not yielded any result so far.

Maheshwar Singh reiterated today that the HLP would never merge with the BJP. This has dashed its last hope of fielding Maheshwar from Mandi, admitted BJP leaders.

The BJP has sent a panel of four candidates - Kargil war hero Brig Kushal Thakur, former BJYM chief and Dhumal loyalist Ajay Rana, Manali BJP second-time legislator Govind Thakur and Ram Swarup Sharma. Seraj MLA Jai Ram Thakur refused to be in the fray this time.

Jai Ram had lost the 2013 Mandi bypoll to Pratibha Singh by a huge margin of 1.36 lakh votes. The BJP lost badly in 16 Assembly seats out of 17 as Jai Ram could retain his own Seraj segment that established Virbhadra's popular mass base in the region.

BJP president Satpal Satti said there was no talk with the HLP for any merger and the state unit was awaiting the final call from the BJP high command to declare candidate from Mandi.

And it is not just the BJP. AAP has approached former Chief of Air Staff BS Thakur, who hails from Kullu, but he refused to contest the poll. It has asked state convener Des Raj, who has also come up with a refusal as AAP is a new outfit and national leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Raj Mohan Gandhi and Yogendra Yadav and others are yet to woo clean social workers, said AAP leaders.

In Shimla, there is a tug of war between AAP and the BJP over roping in former BJP Renuka MLA Hridya Ram. AAP is trying to field him to give fight to the BJP and the Congress, which has dominance in 10 Assembly segments, while the BJP has won seven segments, mainly in Sirmaur and Solan districts.

The Shimla Lok Sabha remained a Congress bastion since 1980 till 1998. The Himachal Vikas Congress, a breakaway Congress group led by former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram, played spoilsport with the Congress in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, said Congressmen.

In 1999, HVC-BJP joint candidate Col Dhani Ram Shandil had defeated Congress' Gangu Ram Musafir. But as a Congress candidate, Shandil defeated BJP's HN Kashyap by 1.08 lakh votes in 2004.

But in the 2009 General Election, Shandil, now a Cabinet Minister in the Virbhadra Singh government, lost to BJP's new face Virender Kashyap in 2009 by a margin of 27,327 votes. It was the time when the BJP government was in power. It had won three seats - Kangra, Hamirpur and Shimla, while Virbhadra Singh was the lone Congress winner, from Mandi.

Chamba, March 23
The district will be linked with the railway line from Pathankot if the BJP-led NDA government is voted to power at the Centre.

Stating this while addressing mediapersons here today, former Union minister Shanta Kumar, who is a BJP candidate from Kangra, reiterated that the much-awaited cement plant for Sikridhar in Chamba district would also be set up on priority for which the railway line was required. The cement plant would generate employment, he asserted.

"The proposal of the cement plant was cleared during the NDA regime when I was the Union Minister of Rural Development," said Shanta Kumar, adding that the it could not set up as there was Congress government in the state.

Shanta Kumar said Kangra and Chamba would be brought on the world map of tourism. The tourism potential in the picturesque landscapes of the Dhauladhars on the southern and northern aspects could be harnessed to beckon world-class tourists, Shanta claimed. He added that the tourism had become the biggest thriving industry all around which had immense scope of generating employment.

In addition to this, Shanta had appealed to his partymen to prepare their local area agenda for the development.

Shanta Kumar predicted that the BJP would emerge as the single largest party in the elections, hoping to form the government at the Centre with the support of its partner allies. He contended that the BJP was the only ‘alternative and compulsion’ for the small political parties to support.

“The Congress is fighting the final battle for its existence and this time it will be confined to a few seats due to scams”, Shanta said.

Accompanied by Chamba MLA Balkrishan Chauhan, Shanta Kumar held parleys with his party leaders, workers and grassroot level activists.

Shimla, March 23
The BJP today said the manner in which all Congress leaders, including the Chief Minister, had been targeting Narendra Modi, it was evident that they were already afraid of him.

In a statement here today, state BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt said had there been no Modi wave in Himachal, the Congress would have been more than happy, but the reality was otherwise. "Even in his press conference held here, the entire focus of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was on targeting Narendra Modi," he said.

Dutt said what was bothering the Chief Minister was the fate of his wife Pratibha Singh who was contesting from Mandi. "He is scared that in the Modi wave sweeping the nation, even his wife could be defeated," he said.

The leader said the BJP was the least bothered about the inquiries being conducted by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau as there was no substance in the allegations. "The BJP is not scared of the chargesheet in the phone-tapping case as no such illegal recording was done and, moreover, the Congress is used to making false propaganda for petty political gains," he said.

He said the Congress which accused the BJP of putting Himachal on sale had not been able to prove violation of land laws even in a single case. "The people are aware of such petty tactics adopted by the Congress each time to woo voters," he said.

Hamirpur, March 23
The contest from Hamirpur this time is more significant since the Congress has fielded Rajinder Rana, former associate of former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, against sitting BJP MP Anurag Thakur.

In the last 14 contests, the Congress had dominated during the initial decades and won the seat five times, but later on, the BJP won the seat eight times, six times in a row, with the Janata Party winning the seat once in 1977.

The first election to the Hamirpur seat was held in 1967 in which Congress candidate PC Verma had defeated Jagdev Chand Thakur of the Jan Sangh. In 1971, Narain Chand Prashar of the Congress again defeated him.

In 1977, Ranjeet Singh, riding on the Janata Party wave, defeated Prashar by over 50,000 votes. However, in 1980, Prashar defeated Ranjeet Singh by over 70,000 votes.

The BJP, which contested the Hamirpur seat by fielding PK Dhumal in 1984, had to face defeat at the hands of Congress candidate NC Prashar by a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes.

However, Dhumal went on to win the next two elections in 1989 and 1991, defeating Prashar by 32,000 and 3,000 votes, respectively.

Dhumal again had to face defeat in 1996 at the hands of Vikram Singh of the Congress by over 16,000 votes.

The next three elections, 1998, 1999, and 2004, were won by BJP candiate Suresh Chandel, defeating Congress candidate Vikram Singh once and Ram Lal Thakur twice.

Chandel had to resign from Parliament after the allegations of “cash for query” episode and Dhumal again defeated Congress candidate Ram Lal Thakur in the byelection held in 2007 by over 70,000 votes.

Dharamsala, March 23
The municipal councils across the state are imposing illegal penalties on house tax even before the end of the current financial year.

The property tax is imposed by the municipal councils for the financial year ending on March 31. People are supposed to deposit their property tax till March 31 as per the rules.

However, various municipal councils have kept varied last dates for depositing the property tax.

The Dharamsala Municipal Council had kept February 28 as the last date for depositing the tax after which people have been forced to deposit penalty tax.

Amrit Lal Gupta, an accounts officer, said imposing the penalty tax before March 31 by any municipal council in the state was illegal as per the financial rules of the state.

He said people were liable to pay property tax for the financial year between March 31, 2013, and March 31, 2014.

In case they were depositing the tax before March 31, 2014, under no rule the council could impose penal rent on them, he said.

Shiv Kumar of Una is also facing the same problem. He alleged that the Una Municipal Council had offered 20 per cent discount in case the property tax was deposited before March 20.

However, after that people are forced to pay penal tax. Penal tax should not be imposed on people in case they deposit the sum before March 31, he said.

Many people are planning to move petitions before the respective district magistrates against the decisions of municipal councils to impose penal tax before the end of the financial year.

The people are also questioning the criteria being used by municipal councils in the state to calculate the property tax. The property tax in the state ranges from 12 to 16 per cent of the total rental income.

As per the rule, the municipal councils should fix the property tax as per the statements of the tenants. However, most of the municipal councils are fixing property tax on subjective and arbitrary criteria.

Amrit Lal alleged that the property tax imposed on him was much more than 12 per cent. Senior officials of the local bodies department, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said property taxes were being imposed at the municipal councils level and the department had very little say on this issue.

A senior official of the department wishing anonymity said he himself had been fighting with the municipal council in Hamirpur district to get justification on the house tax imposed on him.

The executive officer of Dharamsala Municipal Council was not available for comments, despite repeated attempts.

Shimla, March 23
Rain lashed isolated places in the state for the past 24 hours reviving the receding chill in the mid and higher hills. The local Met office has predicted rain or snow in the higher hills during the next 24 hours.

Seobagh, Manali and Kasol in Kullu and Dalhousie in Chamba received scanty rainfall. Weather remained overcast during the entire day. As per the Met office, there is no significant change in the maximum and minimum temperature in the past 24 hours.

The minimum temperature was recorded at Bharmaur at -7.1°C while the maximum temperature was recorded at Una at 31.2°C. The Met office has predicted rain or snow at the lower, middle and higher hills for the next two days. The weather will remain dry on March 25.

Shimla, March 23
The telecom sector has grown exponentially in the country, with which telecom disputes have grown. Mediation has a great potential for providing satisfying solutions to disputes. This was stated by Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir of the HP High Court here yesterday.

He inaugurated a seminar on "Regulatory Framework and Dispute Resolutions in telecom, broadcasting and cable services sectors" organised in the High Court by the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

In his address, the Acting Chief Justice underlined the significance of the process of mediation in settlement of telecom disputes.

TDSAT Chairperson Justice Aftab Alam spoke about economy of dispute resolution through mediation in the broadcasting sector. He said the mediation centre for telecom disputes resolution started functioning in July 2013 and a total of 148 cases were referred to it, of which 47 cases were settled through mediation, 59 referred back to TDSAT and 42 cases were pending.

Kuldip Singh, member of TDSAT and MF Farooqui, secretary, Department of Telecom, also spoke on the occasion and DP De, TDSAT adviser, presented a vote of thanks.

High Court judges Justice Sanjay Karol, Justice Rajiv Sharma, Justice VK Sharma, Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Lokayukta of Himachal Pradesh Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta, Registrar General of High Court AC Dogra and Registrars Sureshwar Thakur, Sushil Kukreja, KS Chandel and Arvind Malhotra were present on the occasion.

Round-table deliberations with the stakeholders were also held. There were panel discussions on issues of migration from analog to digital, tariff-related issues in DAS regime, pre-litigation mediation and other mechanisms in selling disputes and exchange of signed agreement as per law.

Chief General Manager, BSNL HP Telecom Circle, Pradeep Kumar, senior advocate Meet Malhotra, advocates Tejveer Bhatia, Nasir Hussain, Jayant Mehta, Kumal Tandon and Navin Chawla, president of Cable Operators Federation of India Roop Sharma, Adviser (CA & QOS) TRAI, Deputy Adviser (B&CS) TRAI GS Kwesarwani and president of Himachal Upbhokta Sanrakshan Parishad Shiv Dutt Bhardwaj held panel discussions and Manjul Bajpai, president, Telecom Lawyers Association, chaired the concluding session.

Dharamsala, March 23
Unscientific mining and lack of mining policy based on scientific data was creating a situation for natural disasters in Himachal Pradesh.

The situation was such that on the one hand, the debris being created from infrastructure projects such as power and road constructions was being dumped in rivers, thereby raising their water levels, especially during monsoons, while on the other, illegal mining was destroying the ecology of many rivers and threatening national infrastructure.

In Himachal, lakhs of tonnes of debris is generated every year as hills are cut to create infrastructure, including roads, power projects or buildings. Since the construction and development activity is taking place in all parts of the state, debris is being generated everywhere.

In some places, including the Dehar project of the BBMB in Mandi district, farmers are at loggerheads with authorities over the dumping of silt.

However, most of the debris being generated from cutting of hills is being dumped in an unscientific manner along the rivers or hill sides.

In rivers, the debris was creating silting in power projects and destroying the ecology of rivers. Along the hill sides, the debris destroys plantations and undergrowth of trees.

While the debris generated is being dumped in an unscientific manner, riverbeds are being mined by stone crushers causing another form of damage to the ecology of rivers.

The demand for crushed material from Himachal-based stone crushers has increased manifold after the Punjab and Haryana High Court banned mining in Punjab.

In the past few years, many stone crushers have mushroomed in the border areas of Punjab and Himachal, especially in Kangra and Una districts.

Due to illegal mining, the railway bridge over the Chakki on the Punjab-Himachal border got damaged. Last year, railway traffic on the Pathankot-Jogindernagar narrow gauge railway line remained disrupted for months as railway bridge pillars were damaged due to illegal mining and flash floods in the Chakki.

This year, the same railway bridge has been damaged and railways authorities have quoted illegal mining in the Chakki as the reason. In Una district, the district mining authorities have imposed a heavy fine on trucks arriving from Punjab almost every day and carrying illegally mined sand and gravel from rivulets of Himachal.

Villagers have complained of the damage being caused to the roads due to plying of heavy duty trucks carrying illegally mined material.

However, in case, dumps are created, the state government can sell the debris for national infrastructure projects for the construction of national highways.

Another unscientific procedure of mining being adopted in the state was that most of mining was taking place in easily approachable areas. Many rivulets that have not been cleared for many years pose danger of flash floods. The mining potential of these rivulets was not being exploited as they are far off from the border areas and transportation cost of material is high.

Palampur, March 23
The acute shortage of labour in the Kangra tea industry has become a matter of concern as it has led to abandoning of many tea gardens in the valley. The plucking season of green tea leaves has already begun, but there is no labour available.

A number of tea growers said the manpower crunch had become a major problem and they had no other alternative except to abandon their tea gardens.

Last year also the shortage of labour had hit the production of tea leaves.

Quality tea leaves are plucked only at March-end and in April, but the production of the same is likely to be much below the expectations of the growers this year.

Official sources said in the past two years, the production of tea leaves had come down to 30 to 40 per cent in the valley, hitting small growers the most. The long spell of winter this year and the cold conditions in February and March have further aggravated the situation.

In April last year, the total production of tea leaves was 7,50,000 kg, whereas this year it is likely to come down to only 5,00,000 kg. The production of made tea in April last year was 20,000 kg, which is likely to come down to 16,000 kg this year, resulting in huge losses to the growers.

Meanwhile, Brij Behari Butail, Speaker of HP Assembly and leader of tea growers, said the Ministry of Commerce, through the Tea Board of India, was launching a multi-crore project for the revival of tea gardens in the valley. The project will extend technical and financial support to the tea growers and also help them switch over to mechanical plucking of tea leaves.

It is expected that with the coming up of this project, the Kangra tea industry will usher in a new era, he added. 

TAILPIECE

Khushwant Singh has left, but his words are still with us. He says about Andretta: “This is where drama, painting, pottery and writing marry.”

Shimla, March 23
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Himachal Pradesh, has found that the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture, Nauni, has suffered an extra expenditure of Rs 1.69 crore for the delay in the execution of five different works in the university from April 2008 to March 2011.

CAG found that the university had not even prepared its accounts as per the provisions of the statutes of the University Act.

Not only this, the university has also furnished an inflated utilisation grant certificates of Rs 5.17 crore to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research from 2010-13, CAG revealed.

According to the CAG report 2013, the university has not prepared the accounts mandatory under the University Act. It is surprising that both HP University and Nauni university have not prepared their annual accounts, despite the fact that state institutions have been functioning over the years, CAG observed.

Auditors found that the Nauni university had taken up construction of five works on its campus worth Rs 2.50 crore from 2008 to March 2011. But the delay plagued the works and auditors found that these works were not complete till June 2013. This in turn cost the university an avoidable extra expenditure worth Rs 1.69 crore.

Principal Accountant General (Audit) Satish Loomba said it was surprising that the universities were not preparing their accounts as per the University Act.

Even the varsity has not adjusted the contingent advances worth Rs 18.41 crore granted to its official staff during 1997-2012. This amount was found to be adjusted as on June 2013, the auditors found. 

Solan, March 23
Despite tall promises made by successive state governments, the accident-prone Kalka-Shimla national highway (NH-22) has failed to have a trauma centre.

The setting up of a trauma centre is a crucial requirement of this highway where the accident rate is high and precious time is often lost in providing emergency medical aid in case of accidents.

The setting up of such a centre has been confined to mere announcements sans result. The last such announcement was made by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Santosh Chawdhary in August last year, when she visited Kasauli after being elevated as the minister.

A level-one trauma centre is normally attached with a medical college, while a level-two trauma centre is attached to a tertiary care hospital. The level-three trauma centre, for which an allocation of Rs 8 crore is made, can be located anywhere depending on the requirement.

Though advanced planning for the centre had been initiated about a decade ago, when Dharampur was selected for setting up such a centre, it has failed to see the light of the day.

Not to be left behind, even Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment DR Shandil had stated in March last year that a trauma centre would soon be opened between Parwanoo and Dharampur. He had also stated that its facilities would surpass those of the PGI, Chandigarh. But despite the lapse of a year, no such project has even been conceived as yet.

With a lone Community Health Centre at Dharampur providing merely basic health services, one wonders how crores have been spent through the centrally-aided projects like the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in improving health services.

The condition of the first referral unit at Nalagarh, located on the other accident-prone NH-21(A), is equally appalling as it does not have even a blood bank.

Chief Medical Officer RK Gupta, however, said two blood storage units would shortly be functional at Nalagarh and Parwanoo. He said they had no information about setting up of a trauma centre at their end.

Chamba, March 23
Electricity consumers of the Chamba region are up in arms about inflated bills issued by the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) for the past some time. They say they are being issued hefty electricity bills, which are illogical and beyond their expectations.

The Chamba Welfare Association, a Non-governmental Organisation, has also received such complaints from residents of the area.

The association is going to submit a memorandum in this respect to the state government.

Members of the association told this correspondent that the association would plead for reimbursement of the inflated bills they had already deposited with the board. They would ask the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board to issue a warning to its offices not to generate inflated bills in future.

The association would also bring this matter to the notice of political leaders, who were canvassing in their areas these days.

Shimla, March 23
Students and members of the Students Central Association (SCA) of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) today staged a street play on the campus, paying tributes to Sardar Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on Martyrdom Day.

Members of the Aam Aadmi Party and the CPM remembered their contribution to the country's freedom. There was no official release on Martyrs' Day today.

The students lit candles and carried placards, remembering Shaheed Bhagat Singh on the campus.

SCA president Rajan Harta said the Students Federation of India unit of the university staged a street play highlighting sacrifices made by Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.

Solan, March 23
Maharaja Agrasen University (MAU), Baddi, yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate its academic collaboration with Ghana Technical University (GTU), Ghana.

The MoU was signed by Dr SP Bansal, Vice-Chancellor, MAU, and Dr OSEI Kofi Darkwa, president, Ghana Technical University.

This arrangement would help students of both universities to study dual degree programmes, which would give a fillip to the objective of providing quality education by the university, said Dr Bansal.

On the occasion, Dr Darkwa, Afua Amankwa Sarokordie, Millicent Owusu Boakye and Osie Akwasi A Samoa Bonsu of GTU were present.

Prem Sagar Goyal, chief patron of the Maharaja Agrasen Technical Education Society, Delhi, was also present.

Giving details of the MoU, Dr Bansal said it would enhance the academic and professional levels of students doing Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Students of GTU who were in the 1st year of the course could take admission in MAU for the completion of the course. Students of one university could also continue their semester study in the other one. With this exchange, students would acquire knowledge about the culture of both countries, he said.

Students would also get the facility of project placement and supervision. Some short-term courses would be conducted and a provision for the exchange of faculty would benefit students of both countries, Dr Bansal added.

Such academic collaboration with universities of international repute was important for the all-round development of students. Besides, students got an opportunity to exhibit their competence and skills on a global level, he said.

Nurpur, March 23
As many as 870 persons were examined at a free eye check-up camp, which was held on the premises of the Nagni Mata temple at Kandwal near here yesterday. The day-long camp was organised by the temple committee.

Temple committee president Hari Singh said an eye camp was being organised every year for the past many years. Cataract operations were also being performed on behalf of the committee at these camps.

He said a team of eye surgeons from Pathankot would perform operations at the camp. Patients were given free medicines, spectacles and food provided by the committee.

Nurpur, March 23
In a hit-and-run case, one pedestrian was killed when an unidentified vehicle hit him at Milwan under the Indora police station here yesterday.

As per police information, the deceased had been identified as Gurnam Singh of Konatpur (Pathankot).

The Indora police had registered a case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code and Section 197 of the Motor Vehicles Act against the driver of the unidentified vehicle.

The body of the victim was handed over to family members after a postmortem examination, which was conducted at the Nurpur Civil Hospital.