Shimla, March 26
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau sought permission from the Home Department to prosecute former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, his MP son Anurag Thakur, along with three senior bureaucrats, in the case against the HPCA as it submitted the final chargesheet to the department today.

The names of 18 persons, including HPCA office-bearers and other government officials, find mention in the chargesheet.

Having completed its investigation in the case against the HPCA registered on August 1, 2013, the Vigilance Bureau has named 18 persons but sought the permission to prosecute five public servants in the case.

Considering the sensitivity of the case, senior Vigilance officials discussed the case threadbare with senior functionaries of the Home and Law Department.

The Vigilance has included the name of the Leader of the Opposition, who was patron-in-chief of the HPCA, in the chargesheet. He had been sent a questionnaire regarding his role in grant of land to the HPCA to which he replied, but the bureau found it unsatisfactory. Similarly, Anurag was also summoned twice for questioning to the Dharamsala office.

Anurag’s name also figures in the chargesheet as he is the president of the HPCA. Besides him, Vishal Marwah, honorary secretary and Sanjay Sharma, vice-president of the HPCA, and some other office-bearers have been named in the chargesheet.

The bureaucrats include Deepak Sanan, Additional Chief Secretary, who was Principal Secretary (Revenue) when change of land use was allowed and Ajay Sharma, Bilaspur DC, who was the Director, Youth Services and Sports, when the land was given to the HPCA. Sanan and RS Gupta, a retired IAS officer who was then Kangra DC, have already been chargesheeted on July 26, 2013, for their role in the grant of land given on lease to the HPCA.

Then Chief Executive Officer of the Dharamsala Municipal Committee RS Verma has also been linked to the case and his name also finds mention in the chargesheet. Some revenue officials and panchayat members are also mentioned in the chargesheet.

The FIR in the HPCA case was registered on August 1 under Sections 406, 420 and 120 of the IPC by the Dharamsala office of the Vigilance Bureau. The issue of grant of land to the HPCA had figured in the Congress chargesheet against the BJP regime.

Babus in a spot
Deepak Sanan, Additional Chief Secretary, who was the Principal Secretary (Revenue) when change of land use was allowed. Ajay Sharma, Bilaspur DC, was the Director, Youth Services and Sports, when the land was given to the HPCA. Sanan and RS Gupta, a retired IAS officer who was then Kangra DC, have already been chargesheeted.

Mandi, March 26
The BJP high command has decided to field Ram Swaroop Sharma from Mandi against sitting Congress MP Pratibha Singh, wife of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Sharma, a devoted RSS worker and organisational leader of the BJP for over two decades, had been aspiring for the ticket to contest the seat for the past many years.

The election will be a big challenge for him as he will face two-time MP Pratibha Singh.

Pratibha Singh had won the byelection by over 1.32 lakh votes, defeating her BJP opponent Seraj MLA Jai Ram Thakur.

Even in 2009, when the BJP was ruling the state, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had won from here against all odds.

Out of the total 17 Assembly segments, 11 are being represented by Congress MLAs, five by the BJP MLAs and one by HLP MLA.

Mandi Sadar, Balh, Padhar, Sundernagar, Karsog, Ani, Rampur, Banjar and three tribal constituencies, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi-Bharmour, are with the Congress.

The Rampur Assembly segment is considered the pocket borough of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, which used to be part of erstwhile Bushehar state, ruled by the ancestors of Virbhadra Singh.

Sarkaghat, Jogindernagar, Nachan, Seraj and Manali are represented by BJP MLAs and Kullu has HLP MLA.

Campaigning in Mandi, the second largest constituency in the country having tribal areas, which remain snowbound for quite some time, is an onerous task for the contestants.

Sharma had been in charge of the Hamirpur constituency twice in the past and has good experience of organising election campaign.

With Jai Ram Thakur as election in charge in Mandi, the BJP candidate will gain from the latter's election experience.

Ram Swaroop Sharma said, "I have worked in the party organisation for many years and am well-acquainted with electoral politics and will enter the fray to win the seat with the blessing of voters, riding the Modi wave." 

Hamirpur, March 26
Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal has termed the present UPA government the “most corrupt”.

Addressing a meeting of party workers of Nadaun Assembly here today, Dhumal said, “The 10-year misrule and corruption have created anger among the people and the election will be a historic one.”

He said, “Various scams and allegations of corruption against Congress leaders have lowered the image of the counrty and now time has come to oust the Congress government.”

Commenting on AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s speech made in Dharamsala recently promising increase in reservation for women, Dhumal said, “Perhaps people writing speech of Rahul Gandhi forgot that Himachal Pradesh is already giving 50 per cent reservations to women in local bodies elections and 58 per cent women are pubic representatives”.

Speaking on one-rank, one-pension, Dhumal said, “Rs13,000 crore are required to give one-rank, one-pension but the Congress government had only allocated Rs 500 crore for this purpose. Everybody knows this promise cannot be fulfilled. It will be fulfilled by the NDA government after coming to power.”

Targeting the state government, Dhumal said, “The UPA government’s rule had led to price rise and the state government has failed to provide succour to people as subsidised ration through PDS shops is not available.”

Dhumal said, “There is need elect a party which could bring prices down, protect the country and take it ahead in every sphere.”

Shimla, March 26
The BJP has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for facilitating a free and fair CBI probe into corruption charges levelled against him.

“The CBI is looking into charges of corruption against Virbhadra Singh and propriety demands that he should resign from his post to pave way for free and fair probe”, state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti today said.

“Virbhadra’s continuation as Chief Minister can influence the CBI probe and he should cooperate with investigating agencies by tendering his resignation”, Satti said. He should make public the explanation given by him to investigating agency in regard to allegations of corruption and also come clean on the issues in which he had reportedly been questioned, said he.

Alleging that Virbhadra’s name had figured in payoff details of steel company for which he had no justification, Satti said he had been trapped in corruption cases by trying to adjust the amount.

He claimed that the exorbitant increase in the income of Virbhadra Singh from his orchards was also under a CBI scanner and only a fair and impartial probe can bring the facts to light.

Meanwhile, congratulating the party for fielding Ram Swaroop Sharma from Mandi, the state BJP Mahila Morcha welcomed the party decision.

President state Mahila Morcha president Ritu Sethi said the announcement of Sharma’s name had given a fresh lease of life to the party cadre and instilled confidence among the party workers . Sharma is well aware of the problems of price rise, corruption and unemployment faced by the masses, she added.

Una, March 26
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) today announced its candidates from Hamirpur and Kangra. Addressing mediapersons here today, Rajya Sabha MP and BSP state in charge Avtar Singh Karimpuri said party supremo Mayawati had finalided the names of Rakesh Chaudhary for Hamirpur and Lal Hussain Ambi for Kangra.

Karimpuri said the BSP had tried to give representation to all sections of the society for the four seats. He said while Lal Hussain belonged to the Gujjar Muslim community and is the Up-pradhan of Barakhara panchayat at Indora in Kangra district, Rakesh Chaudhary belonged to the OBC community and hailed from Nandpur village of Chintpurni.

The BSP leader said the names of Gurnam Singh, belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Lala Ram Sharma, Brahmin candidate, had already been announced from Shimla and Mandi seats. He said the BJP and the Congress had cheated the people and divided them on the basis of region and caste. Therefore, the people would settle for the third option in the form of BSP.

State BSP president Vijay Nayar said a door-to-door campaigning had already begun in Shimla and Mandi and would soon be launched in Hamirpur and Kangra. He said senior party functionaries would visit each and every Assembly segment during the run-up to the elections and monitor the campaign. 

Dalhousie, March 26
"There is no wave of Narendra Modi. It is limited to news channels and newspapers only just to make publicity," former MP Chander Kumar, who is Congress candidate for Kangra said.

On the other hand, Chander Kumar claimed that there was an undercurrent in favour of the Congress and the UPA government was sure to be repeated for the third time.

Chander Kumar, who was in Bhattiyat on Tuesday, kicked off his campaign from the constituency in Chamba district.

Accompanied by Kuldip Singh Pathania, chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board and other Congress leaders and workers of the area, Chander Kumar held corner meetings at Dramnala, Basoltha, Rajei, and Motla villages.

Chander Kumar said the opening of a superspecialty clinical unit at the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC) at Tanda was the major achievement of the UPA government. Besides, the proposed opening of medical colleges in Chamba and Sirmour districts was a step in the direction of development of the state.

Chander Kumar cautioned the public not to be misled by the false propaganda of certain political parties.

Shimla, March 26
Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) president Maheshwar Singh today warned Naveen Dhiman, who rejoined the BJP yesterday, to refrain from making misleading statements against him and the party that he was helping the Congress.

In a statement issued here, the HLP leader claimed that Dhiman was member of the core committee which had decided to support the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

HLP Yuva Sena leaders Ashish Negi, Sunil Sharma, Monu Kapoor, Deepak Manta and Abhimanyu Rathaur condemned the misleading and false statements being made by certain former HLP leaders against the party. They reiterated that they would mobilise the support for AAP candidates in the upcoming poll.

Shimla, March 26
A revenue inquiry has detected a multi-crore benami land transaction and stamp duty evasion linked to 292 bigha land in the Rampuri-Keonthal area at a key location around the Jubbarhatti airport near here. A Rs 8.72 crore transaction has been detected in this benami land deal executed in 2008, when the BJP was in power in the state.

The inquiry was conducted by the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Revenue in March 2013 and the report was submitted to the government in June for further action. After this, the Revenue Department asked the District Collector to start proceedings in the revenue court, said the officials.

The benami land deal is set to rock the Trinamool Congress (TMC) as the revenue inquiry has detected a payment worth Rs 8.72 crore was made to landowners by Alchemist, a multi-business reality and hospitality business company. The company’s chairman is KD Singh, a TMC Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal, the inquiry revealed.

The inquiry, ordered by the Virbhadra Singh government, was started in June 2013. Benami land deals were part of a Congress "chargesheet" against the BJP regime submitted to President Pranab Mukherjee when the Congress was in the opposition in the state.

The inquiry found that different benami buyers made payment to different agricultural land owners through cheques issued by the company Alchemist.

Not only this, the benami buyers struck land deals with the land owners through the “sale deed and will deeds”. They violated norms and evaded stamp duty worth lakhs of rupees, the inquiry revealed.

After this land transaction was declared benami, the government initiated revenue proceedings in the case in the court of District Collector Shimla. If the case is proved to be valid, the benami land would be vested back with the government, revealed top officials.

In this benami land transaction, the benami buyers not only evaded payment of 2 per cent stamp duty, but also they undervalued the land. They paid stamp duty at the rate of Rs 45,000 per bigha while the land value was about Rs 4.5 lakh per bigha in Shimla tehsil, the inquiry found.

As many as 15 persons who acted as benami buyers purchased land from the land owners in the sale deed.

Besides, as many as 10 different cases of the benami buyers executed “will-based land sale deeds". In four such cases, the “will land deals” are linked to 3.72 hectare land, while in other six different cases, land measures 7.99 hectare and one benami buyer hails from Kandaghat, investigation found.

The benami buyers have turned out to be non-agriculturalists, which violates Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act 1972. According to this Act, no non-agriculturalist Himachali can buy agricultural land in the state without the government’s permission.

“We have issued notices to the buyers in the case," said Dinesh Malhotra, District Magistrate, Shimla. “The land will be vested back with the government if the case is proved to be valid,” he added.

Alchemist Chairman and TMC Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh did not respond to any call either on his mobile phone or to the email queries sent to Alchemist.

But state TMC president Pramod Sharma, who had contested as its candidate from Theog in the 2012 state Assembly elections, said the TMC unit was inactive here and he had no comment to make on the issue.

Shimla, March 26
The High Court today permitted the Shimla Municipal Corporation to recover house tax dues for 2013-14 on old pattern. The court also directed the corporation to take steps to carry out requisite amendment in the bylaws as early as possible.

A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan passed these orders on an application of MC Shimla to permit it to raise bills of house tax for the financial year 2013-14 on the old pattern till the state government took a final decision on the MC Shimla resolution dated January 22.

The corporation today filed an affidavit informing the court it had raised the demand for house tax for 2012-13 on old pattern and had recovered 85.82% of the total dues.

It submitted before the court that the corporation had taken action against tax defaulters prior to 2012 by declaring arrears of taxes as arrears of land revenue or by passing attachment of rent orders.

In its earlier orders, the High Court had directed the MC Shimla to collect house tax as per the old system subject to determination of new system of levying tax, which was to be adjusted in case there was change in methodology of tax collection.

The special House of the corporation had resolved to obtain views of the general public through a public hearing for decision on proposed draft bylaws regarding levy of tax through the Unit Area Method.

A public hearing was held on January 17 and 18 and a special meeting of the House on the subject was convened on January 22. It resolved that the tax system should be reasonable and there should be exemption for certain categories like agricultural land, area classified as green belt, for single ladies, widows, senior citizens aged over 80 and property occupied for self-purposes.

Shimla, March 26
The government has decided to make it mandatory for private universities to make admissions to various technical courses only through Common Entrance Tests from the academic session 2014-15. A notification has been issued.

These may either adopt a national-level exam or state-level Common Entrance Examination as notified earlier.

The notification said admissions to BBA, BCA, BBS, MBA and Law courses would also be made on the basis of valid score of entrance tests.

The admissions will be granted on merit determined by entrance tests with cut off 50 per cent marks.

The notification further said if any technical course, being run by the universities, for which there were no exclusive entrance test being conducted at any level, the minimum qualification should be Class XII with 60 per cent aggregate marks or ‘B’ grade from a recognised board/university.

There should be relaxation of 5 per cent marks in case of SC/ST candidates while the reservation of seats for SC/ST/OBCs and physically handicapped be made as per policy of the government.

By yielding to pressure of private universities, the government had made a mess of technical education and attracted criticism for lowering the eligibility criteria and regularising illegal admissions after the process was over.

There was no reason for the government to relax the admission criteria as the Supreme Court had, in its verdict in August 2013, upheld the UGC policy to lay down any qualifying criterion and asserted that the “courts shall not interfere in matters of education unless there is a violation of statutory provisions”.

The decision will help maintaining standards of education and the institutes not conforming to norms will not get sufficient number of students to fill the sanctioned seats.

Varsities free run over It's mandatory for private universities to make admissions to various technical courses only through CETs These may either adopt a national-level exam or state-level examination Relaxation of 5 per cent marks in case of SC/ST candidates

Dharamsala, March 26
The expansion of railway network in the state is an important election agenda during the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Shanta Kumar, BJP candidate from the Kangra parliamentary seat and former Chief Minister, has accused the UPA government of ignoring the expansion of railway network in the state in the past 10 years.

Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal had also written to the Centre for establishing the Manali-Leh railway line. The Himachal Government had maintained that the development of the Manali-Leh railway line was strategic for the defence of the country keeping in view the fact that China had developed its infrastructure right up to the border of India.

The development of the railway line would have meant development of broad-gauge railway line right from Pathankot to Manali and then Leh. However, the idea of developing the said railway line was just a concept for the time being as the Union Government did not take any concrete step in this direction.

Shanta has now been claiming that in case the NDA government is voted to power, the Manali-Leh railway line project will be on priority.

Presently, the state has two narrow-gauge railway networks, including Kalka-Shimla and Pathankot-Jogindernagar. Both the narrow-gauge railway networks were developed before independence by the British administration. Post independence only 40-km Nangal-Amb broad- gauge railway network has been developed.

The broad-gauge railway line in Himachal from Nangal to Talwara township of Punjab was passed in mid-80s by the Union Government. However, the project has been progressing at a tardy pace. In the last Railway Budget, very meagre budget was earmarked for the project.

BJP MP from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, had been claiming credit of getting a few passenger trains started from Una and Amb stations in Una district. However, the fact was that the railways have not started any commercial train on the route.

Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihotri had sought the extension of the railway network till Tahliwal industrial area in Una district. However, the idea was not even considered by the Union Government.

People of Kangra had been pressing to connect Jwalamukhi through the railway line. They maintained that extension of the broad gauge railway line from Amb to Jwalamukhi would not inculcate much budget as most of the area is plain. The extension would connect the entire Kangra district with broad-gauge railway line as it would connect Pathankot-Jogindernagar narrow gauge line with the broad gauge.

Though BJP leaders have included the issue of expansion of railway network in the state in their election campaign, Congress leaders are supporting the issue, but have not included it as a top agenda.

Una, March 26
District Congress president Varinder Dharmani today complained to District Election Officer-cum Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Jain, alleging poll code violations by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA).

In a communiqué, Dharmani has alleged that BJP candidate from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur was the president of the HPCA and the organisation was doling out financial benefits to players during the imposition of the code of conduct.

Dharmani said during a function by the HPCA at Una on March 4, Anurag Thakur had distributed cash awards to players with the intention to woo them. He charged that the process had continued even after the imposition of the code of conduct.

He had requested the Election Commission to seal HPCA bank accounts till the election process was completed so that free and fair polls could be conducted. — OC

Baijnath (Palampur), March 26
The functioning of the HP Education Board and the Education Department is under scanner following leakage of question papers of physics, chemistry and maths of Class XI exams.

The scam came to light when the question papers of chemistry, maths and physics were allegedly leaked and sold in Baijnath last week. Immediately after the incident, the police, officers of the education board and the department swung into action and began investigation.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the question papers were leaked first at a private school, Mahakal in Baijnath subdivision.

A senior officer of the department admitted that the packets sent to schools were found unsealed and five papers were also missing from each packet. The police have already seized the papers.

A senior police officer said it was a sensitive matter for the HP School Education Board and the department, therefore, the police had constituted five teams to investigate the matter and culprits were likely to be arrested in the next two days.

He said Deputy Director, Education, Des Raj, and Deputy Secretary of the HP Board of School Education Board G L Verma were extending cooperation to the police in investigation.

Four papers were also reportedly missing from the bundle of IT question papers exam for which due for today. He did not rule out the possibility of involvement of the school staff too who managed to unseal the bundles and also stealing question papers.

Physics examination had already been cancelled. However, the decision on IT exam is to be taken by the board.

The exams of maths and chemistry are yet to be cancelled. G L Verma, Deputy Secretary, said the board had no information or evidence weather these papers were leaked, therefore, these papers were not cancelled.

He stated that it was the responsibility of the department or school heads to keep the papers in safe place. The board could not be held guilty for such lapses.

The Baijnath police have registered an FIR against the management of the private school on a complaint of the Deputy Director of Education. 

Chamba, March 26
The arrest of women activists by the police has evoked protests from hundreds of villagers from four panchayats in Holi area of tribal Bharmour sub-division in Chamba district today. The controversy surrounds the 180-MW Bajoli Holi Hydropower project. The run-on-river project is coming up on the Ravi.

As many as 25 women activists who were sitting on a ‘dharna’ against the project authorities for axing of trees were arrested by the police yesterday on charges of forcibly stopping the construction work of the project.

The project being executed by Bengaluru-based GMR Power Limited is facing public protests since 2010 as local people are protesting against its construction over the Ravi. People say it will not only destroy ecology of the area, but also impact livelihood of residents of 24 villages.

The project which was allocated to GMR Power in 2007 was earlier planned to be constructed on barren right bank of the river. The project authorities got permission to shift the alignment from right to left bank which is under thick green cover.

A police official at Bharmour said 25 women were arrested on Tuesday on charges of forcibly stopping the project authorities from carrying out the construction work and deterring public servant from his duty and promoting enmity.

Nayagran Panchayat pradhan Mangni Ram, who is spearheading the campaign for the past four years, alleged that women were sitting on a peaceful protest and arbitrarily arrested by the police.

He said people would not allow the project to come up on the left bank and it should be constructed on the right bank as per report of the Hydropower Investigation Department (HID) of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL).

“We are not against the project, but its construction on the left bank would lead to large scale deforestation, drying up of natural water sources and displacement of thousands of people,” Mangni Ram said.

He said the clearance given to the project proponent by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) was in violation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, as it was done without the consent of gram sabhas.

He alleged that the authorities were conniving with project authorities and implicating locals in false cases. Meanwhile, Rahul Saxena, a green activist, alleged that despite opposition from people, the Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, issued a certificate stating that there were no forest rights on the 75 hectares forest land diverted to the project.

“The MoEF clearances were obtained on the basis of this certificate,” Saxena alleged.

"The original survey of the project conducted by the state electricity board has proposed 15-km-long tunnel and powerhouse of the project on the uninhabited right bank of the Ravi, but the company has shifted them to the left bank having dense forests," he said.

According to the HPSEBL report accessed by Saxena through RTI, although constructing the project on the right bank of the river would result in additional construction time of one to two years, not doing so would result in avoidable losses to locals and environment undoing which may not be possible in a long time to come.

Shimla, March 26
The World Wide Fund for Nature and the Shimla MC today urged residents, hoteliers, businessmen and factory owners across the state to observe Earth Hour from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm on March 29 by switching off the lights.

WWF in-charge Arti Gupta said the Earth Hour would be observed in 250 cities in the country and over 4,616 cities across the globe on March 29.

The Earth Hour is observed on every last Saturday of March around the world by turning off the lights.

Addressing the gathering here, she said the SMC, HPTDC and traders organisation were supporting the Earth Hour in the capital city.

“Road shows, cycling rally and awareness campaign in schools will be held to bring climate change and how we can stem this by encouraging the use of renewable energy,” she added.

Deputy Mayor, Shimla, Tikender Panwar said they urged residents, hoteliers and guest house owners to organise candlelight dinner during the Earth Hour and the SMC would switch off the inessential streetlights in the city. “We will assess as to how much electricity is saved during the Earth Hour,” he added. Panwar said the MC was promoting solar mission to promote renewable energy and mapping streetlights. “We are initiating cycling races next year to observe the Earth Hour. 

Palampur, March 26
Dr KK Katoch, Vice-Chancellor, CSK HP Agriculture University, has emphasised the importance of regular training of field veterinarians to equip them with the latest knowledge and enhance their professional skills.

He stated this at the concluding ceremony of a training programme, which was attended by trainees, officers and scientists at the Dr Gopi Chand Negi College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences.

Katoch said a large number of projects had been sanctioned to the university under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna and efforts were being made to train maximum number of officers and supporting staff from the Departments of Animal Husbandry, Agriculture and farming community.

Dr Sanjit Katoch, Dean, Dr GCN COVAS, said field veterinarians were faced with many problems and a special kit with surgical materials and clinical supplies would enable them to perform better. Dr SP Sharma, Director, Research, said the project had been extended up to September. Dr Adarsh Kumar, Principal Investigator, said Rs 39.2 crore was sanctioned under RKVY and 75 field veterinarians had been trained in 11 training programmes. 

Kangra, March 26
People with disabilities must be included in the process of nation building and journalists have a lot to do in this direction. The media should take up the responsibility to inform people.

Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) Vice-Chancellor Furqan Qamar said this while inaugurating a two-day workshop on the media and accessibility organised by the School of Journalism, Mass Communication and New Media, CUHP, in collaboration with Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped (AYJNIHH) at the Temporary Academic Block of the university at Shahpur today. He said taking up the suggestions put forward by experts at the workshop, the university would take up initiatives to make its website more accessible to different-abled people.

Delivering a keynote address at the function, K Kannan, a development communication professional at The George Institute of India, said, “Journalists usually look for sympathy stories when reporting disability issues, but instead, they should look for interventions.”

Pro-Vice-Chancellor Yoginder S Verma said the theme resonated well with the university's vision of making education more inclusive.

RP Sharma, Head, Department of Outreach and Extension Services, AYJNIHH, said a large part of the country lacked medical facilities to detect auditory defects at an earlier stage, which was a major cause of the rising number of hearing impaired.

Dr Mathew Martin, Course Coordinator and Media Officer, and Arvind Surwade, Social Welfare Officer, AYJNIHH, and Dr BS Panwar, Director, MS Panwar Institute of Communication and Management, were present at the function.

Dr Rabindranath, Dean, School of Journalism, said the programme was aimed at creating awareness among media educators, journalists and students about the media accessibility issues faced by differently-abled people.

Shimla, March 26
Stressing the need to adopt traditional mathematics practices in today's life, HPU Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai called upon young scholars and researchers to study international research publications in depth and take initiatives to enrich their knowledge in mathematics.

Inaugurating an international conference organised by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics supported by the UGC Special Assistance Programme (SAP) on the subject "Algebra and Allied Fields" on the HPU campus, he said there was an urgent need to study mathematics in ancient times and adopt its concepts in our daily lives.

Prof Surjeet Singh from King Saudi University of Saudi Arb said algebra continued to experience tremendous growth and diversification in recent years. Need of the hour was to provide the mathematical community with a central source for information on theoretical and applied aspects of mathematics, he added.

Organising secretary for the conference Prof Joginder Singh Dhiman said during the conference, rings and modules, linear algebra and its applications, semi groups, semi rings and semi modules, coding theory, information theory, Boolean algebra lattices and discrete structures would be the major areas for discussion.

Five films, including three 3-minute short films made by students, were screened at the film screening and appreciation event "Filmbook" organised by Department of Journalism and Mass Communication in association with the recently formed HPU Community Radio Club. "That Day After Everyday" by Anurag Kashyap that reflects on atrocities on women was among the short films screened.

Nurpur, March 26
The construction of sabzi mandi at Labh near Jawali has been hanging in balance for the past 10 years. The unprecedented delay in the completion of sabzi mandi has evoked resentment among fruit and vegetable growers in the area.

Inquiries revealed that following an initiative of local former MLA Chander Kumar, the Kangra district Agriculture Produce Marketing Board (APMB) had proposed a sabzi mandi for Jawali and identified a piece of government land adjoining Maharana Pratap Bhawan at Labh near Jawali.

The land was transferred in the name of the APMB which covered the identified site with retaining wall by spending Rs 10 lakh on it. The board had planned to build 10 shops for the sabzi mandi.

Local MLA Neeraj Bharti alleged that the previous BJP government had shelved this project during its regime and now he had taken up the issue with the state government. Meanwhile, Rajinder Pathania, Chairman, Kangra APMB, clarified that the district unit of the board had no funds for the construction of the sabzi mandi.

“The district APMB had passed a resolution for the construction of the sabzi mandi in November last year and submitted it to the Board of Directors of the state APMB. This issue will be raised after Lok Sabha elections and all efforts will be made to construct the sabzi mandi keeping in view the largest interests of growers and farmers of lower areas of Kangra district,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, Ravinder Singh, pradhan of Labh gram panchayat and Beopar Mandal president, Ravi Kumar, pradhan of Jawali gram panchayat, and Ravinder Kapila, president of the Jawali Beopar Mandal, have appealed to the state government and the state APMB to clear this long-standing project immediately.

Kangra, March 26
A 23-year-old woman of Kothar village, who was admitted to the DRPGMC, Tanda, in a critical condition following the consumption of poison by mistake, died today.

The police said the deceased, Bindoo Bala, was married to Rakesh Kumar of Kothar village and had a child. But for the past some time, she was putting up with her parents at Kulthi village. Her relatives said she was living with her parents for the past year.

Last Thursday she had to go to her in-laws. She consumed some poisonous substance by mistake at her parents’ house and was rushed to the Tanda hospital. The body was handed over to her relatives after postmortem, the police said.

The parents of the victim did not suspect any foul play in the incident. Investigation was on.

Palampur, March 26
The Red Ribbon Club of Sri Sai University in collaboration with the state Department of Health organised a special session of students, teachers and staff on World Tuberculosis Day on the university campus here today.

Dr MK Gupta, Dean, Department of Tuberculosis (TB), and Dr RK Sood, Epidemiologist-cum-District Programme Officer, gave detailed information about TB, its symptoms and precautions to be taken by patients.

Experts apprised the participants that TB was an airborne disease, which generally affected the lungs and was transmitted from injected person to another through droplets formed in the throat or lungs. They cautioned them that Himachal was also not unaffected from the disease and one should take more precautions in this hill region. They said World TB Day was first observed by the WHO on March 25, 1995, in Netherland.

A documentary film was shown to students and participants to make them aware of the disease. Dr Sood said every year nine million people got infected with TB globally.

Dr Balram Dogra, Vice-Chancellor of the university, appealed to students to spread the knowledge about the disease.

Those present on the occasion were Dr KK Parmar (DSW), Red Ribbon coordinator Shivani Sharma, Dr Reeta Dogra, Dr Madhurika, Dr Babita and other university officials.

Una, March 26
Two persons, including a two-year-old child, were crushed to death under a water tanker when it was hit by a tipper at Jwar panchayat in Amb subdivision here today.

Police sources said the water tanker, drawn by a tractor, was stationed by the roadside. Two-year-old Shiva, son of migrant worker Raju from Basantpur in Moradabad district (UP), was playing near the tanker, while Devraj (48), the other deceased, from Mairi village was working nearby.

The tipper driver, in the process of unloading gravel from the vehicle, was reversing the vehicle when it hit the water tanker and overturned it. Both were crushed to death under the tanker.

The police have registered a case against tipper driver Rajiv Kumar of Khundian in Kangra district for causing death due to negligence, not amounting to culpable homicide.

The accused, who was reportedly in an inebriated state, had fled from the scene, but was later arrested from Nehrian village, said SP Anupam Sharma.