Palampur, September 14
The Pathankot-Manali-Leh highway, which links Pathankot with Leh via Manali, will now be used by the Army to supply equipment to Leh and other forward areas.

This decision has been taken as the Srinagar-Leh highway is closed for traffic since it has suffered extensive damage due to heavy rain and flash floods in the Kashmir Valley. The Pathankot-Manali-Leh highway is the only road link left for Leh and Ladakh.

Official sources said here today that the Army had already diverted its supplies to Leh through this route. Since a snowfall was expected in the first week of November, limited period was left with the Army. Therefore, all efforts were being made to stock goods such as fuel and ration for its troops posted in the forward areas before snowfall on Rohtang and Baralacha which fall on the way to Leh .

After the Kargil War, this road has assumed more significance. The Ministry of Defence has considered the highway the safest route for carrying Army supplies and other heavy equipment to the border areas as Srinagar-Leh highway falls within the firing range of the Pakistan army. During the Kargil War, this road was the boon to the nation as entire supplies, including heavy equipment and tanks, were carried through this route

The Pathankot-Manali-Leh highway is one of the most significant roads which links Jammu-Pathankot with Leh Ladakh via Manali. Because of disturbed conditions in Jammu and Kashmir for the past 15 years, this road has gathered more importance. Earlier too, the Army has used this highway to supply defence equipment to Leh and other border areas.

This road was declared the national highway in 1987 by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, keeping in view the defence requirements for supply of goods to Leh. Though the state PWD and BRO have spent crores of rupees on this road, they could not covert even one-third portion of it into full width of the national highway.

The highway is in bad shape as the government has not yet converted it into fourlaning. At many points, the road is narrow and single lane which causes frequent traffic jams and inconvenience to the Army while lifting its supplies to Leh. 

Una, September 14
State president of the BJP and Una MLA Satpal Singh Satti today said the district party unit was collecting relief material for flood victims in Kashmir.

After presiding over a meeting of the district unit at the party office here, he said two truck loads of the relief material would be dispatched to the valley by the next two days.

Satti said some relief material, weighing about 25 quintals had already been received at the party office, while an equal amount was expected to be collected in the next two days. He said party workers had been directed to collect blankets, dry food items such as flour, sugar, pulses and edible oils, besides clothes.

The BJP president said all food items should be clean and healthy, while blankets and clothing should be new. He directed the workers to ensure that the trucks were covered so that the material was not spoiled in rain. He added that while the party had not issued any receipts to collect cash, if anybody wanted to contribute cash, he should get a bank draft made in favour of the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and deposit it at the party office.

Solan, September 14
With monkeys causing an annual loss of nearly Rs 150 crore to crops and an equal amount to horticultural crops in a span of seven years, the wildlife wing of the state Forest Department has moved a case for declaring monkeys as vermin with the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

This declaration will allow people to kill monkeys without seeking permission from the Forest Department, as was the present practice as animals which cause large-scale destruction to crops have been categorised as vermin.

Monkeys are presently protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and, hence, cannot be killed. But if they are declared vermin for a particular period and reason under Section 62 of this Act, they will cease to be protected and be listed under Schedule 5.

Lalit Mohan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Wing, who had put up a strong case in this regard, said: “We are hopeful that the ministry will consider our demand, as crop damage worth crores is being witnessed every year. This has forced the agrarian community to even give up agriculture and shift to other occupations. Crops such as maize, vegetables, fruits, etc, are facing large-scale destruction from monkeys every year.”

The department has, however, been endeavouring to bring down the monkey population and mass sterilisation campaigns have been initiated in this regard.

According to the last monkey census conducted in 2013, the state has 2,260,86 monkeys.

The state government has opened three new monkey sterilisation centres in Chamba, Sirmaur and Mandi districts and the total number of such centres now stands at seven.

In addition to this, work is in progress to open two more centres in Sainj and Una.

As many as 84,221 monkeys have been sterilised till August 31 this year and the department has sent a Rs 200-crore scheme to the ministry to develop monkey parks, where multi-layered plantation, including planting fruits trees, will be undertaken in 10 locations across the state where monkey population is more.

This will provide natural habitat to monkeys and reduce their invasion on crops.

The officials have also taken up the issue of permitting the export of monkeys with the Government of India as they find use in research and medicine, but are yet to receive any such approval. 

Shimla, September 14
The Himachal Power Corporation (HPCL) will execute 5-mw Berra Dol solar power project near Naina Devi in Bilaspur, which, along with two hydropower projects, will be funded by a French agency.

A two-member French government team, led by Camille Severac, project officer, and Stephane Tromilin from French Development Agency, AFD, inspected the plant site at Berra Dol and gave the nod to fund the project.

The team also agreed to fund the two power projects in an interaction with the HPCL management and multiple purpose power projects department. The total cost of the three projects will be Rs 780 crore.

The HPCL has asked the Ministry of Finance to okay the French funding of the project and two hydropower projects, 48-mw Chanju-III, 33-mw Deothal Chanju in Chamba district. “We have submitted the detailed project reports of these projects to the funding agency,” said Managing Director, HPCL, DK Sharma.

He said the Non-conventional Energy Department of the Centre had given its nod.

The HPCL move to execute the solar project is in sync with the CERC norms that stipulate that power companies have to either install the renewal energy of 5 per cent to 10 per cent or they have to buy the renewal energy certificates from the companies which have “green energy”.

The Ministry of Power has yet to notify the norms for the hydropower projects, though many state governments have fixed green energy norms for the power companies to add renewal energy to its basket to reduce, said hydro power experts here.

The SJVNL, Tata Power and others have added renewal energy portfolios to their kitty tapping wind and solar power, they revealed.

Principal Secretary, Power, SKBS Negi said the French funding agency had agreed to fund the power projects and they awaited the Central Government’s nod.

Centre’s nod awaited

The French agency to fund 5-mw Berra Dol solar power project near Sri Naina Deviji in Bilaspur, 48-mw Chanju-III project, 33-mw Deothal Chanju project in Chamba district. The total cost of the three projects will be Rs 780 crore.

Mandi district came into existence on April 15, 1948, by merging the two princely states of Suket and Mandi. Suket had its capital at Sundernagar which was my love at first sight about 50 years ago. It allured me as a city beautiful.

Like other towns of Himachal Pradesh, it too has lost its old charm, but despite squandering open spaces to brick and mortar, it has retained its sanctity. Recently, I had to deliver a lecture to principals of various ITIs in Himachal Pradesh. So I had visited the Directorate of Technical Education which is located at Sundernagar.

Rajeshwar Goel, who is heading the Directorate, appeared to me to be a proactive officer.

I had not seen the palace of Suket earlier, so I went that side carrying a fleeting hope of meeting the present ruler Hari Sen and his wife Radhika, who is the daughter of the eminent journalist Pran Chopra. My hope was dashed when a thick-moustached chowkidar told me that they were in Delhi. The abandoned palace is, now a gossip-spot for students of the adjacent college (See photo).

The royalty, whenever it visits Sundernagar, stays at Lakshman Villa, a nearby cottage. The old but aesthetically designed Secretariat of the Raja houses Maharaja Lakshman Sen Memorial College established in 1976 (See photo).

It may surprise many that at the time of the founding of Suket in 765 by Bir Sen, the larger state of Mandi did not exist. It was a part of Suket. The District Gazetteer of Mandi (1920) reads: “The capital of the new principality was then at Pangna, where the ancient palace still exists in a good state of preservation.” The palace at Pangna is a tower-like structure on a 50-foot stone platform, overlooking the little village spread on its either side.

The seven-storey tower-like fort palace has an old-world grandeur. It is 60 foot high and has typical wood and stone hill architecture. The woodcarvings are decorative. In the middle or the end of the 13th century, Raja Madan Sen ruled Suket. One night he dreamt of a devi who ordered him to leave the palace immediately as it was her abode. He, therefore, shifted the capital to Lohara in the Balh valley.

During the reign of Sahu Sen, his younger brother Bahu Sen, quarrelled with the Raja and left the state to reside in Manglaur, within the territory of Kullu. This event Cunningham fixes at or about 1000 AD. It laid the basis of Mandi state, credit for which goes to Ajbar Sen (1499). It was Raja Kartar Sen of Suket who around 1520 built a new capital above the forest of Taramari and named it Kartarpur after himself. Today it is known as Purana Nagar and is 4 km away from Sundernagar. Raja Bikram Sen was enthroned in 1791 and in the beginning of his rule, he selected Baned village, today’s Sundernagar as capital of Suket. So, Sundernagar today is a 223-year-old city.

The political awakening of the people of the hill state had its seeds in Suket because from here started the Civil Disobedience Movement, known as Suket Satyagraha. The leaders of the provisional government for HP met at Suni on February 8, 1948, and their first target was Suket. A 48-hour notice was served on Raja Lakshman Sen at Sundernagar on February 16 to hand over the state administration to the people, so that the state is merged with the Indian dominion. The Raja kept silent, so a non-violent movement was started on February 18 under the command of Pandit Padam Dev.

Completely demoralised forces of the state paved no resistance to the satyagrahis. Local officials also saw their safety in pledging their loyalty to the people’s government and so Suket fell on February 23. This way Sundernagar became the first nail in the coffin of the princely rule in Himachal Pradesh.

TAILPIECE

A bespectacled prince inaugurated the exhibition of Pahari Masters’ miniature paintings, which show the profiles of the human figures. He remarked: “How advanced were we even in that century? All men and women used to wear contacts.” The organiser: “How have you concluded that, Sir?” Prince: “With one eye and one ear, how can they wear spectacles, stupid?”

Dharamsala, September 14
If the state government fails to respond to the requests of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) for providing security and other necessary arrangements for hosting a one-day international (ODI) cricket match between India and West Indies on October 17 at Dharamsala within the next week, the holding of the match might be uncertain.

This was stated by president of HPCA and BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur while talking to mediapersons here recently.

However, the state government has not been responding to the requests of the HPCA for providing security and other necessary arrangements for hosting the one-day international cricket match.

Anurag said organising the international cricket match at Dharamsala would help promote tourism in the state. “The state government should see it as an opportunity rather than viewing it from political angle,” he said.

”The HPCA has to inform the BCCI regarding security and other arrangements to be done by the state government within the next one week so that further arrangements for the match can be made,” Anurag said.

He alleged that already Dharamsala tourism had suffered tremendous loss due to the decision of the state government against allowing hosting of IPL matches there.

In case the match was not hosted here, it would be a great loss for the people of the Kangra region, who benefit the most due to huge influx of tourist in the region during the matches, Anurag said.

He also presided over the annual general meeting of the HPCA. The HPCA decided to invite applications from schools across the state for providing training to youth in cricket. He said the HPCA would develop pitches, provide cricket kits and cricket balls to schools which show interest in providing cricket training to their students.

He said to provide better opportunities to district-level players in the state, the HPCA was planning to start league cricket in the state that would involve district-level players.

Earlier, Anurag was welcomed at Dharamsala by workers of the BJYM.

Nurpur, September 14
A government schoolteacher from Khehrian (Jawali), who was awarded by President Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi on Teacher’s Day, has become a role model for the teaching community in the state.

Nirjla Sharma is the lone primary school teacher in the state, who has been conferred with the award after evaluating her contribution in imparting the best primary school education by which the state Education Department recommended her name for this honour.

At present, she is the head teacher of Government Primary School, Nagrota Surian, where she joined in February 2009.

She took the initiative of teaching English medium subjects for the first time as an experiment in April 2009 session and was successful in her mission.

The school too has emerged as a role model for primary education with the concept of English medium teaching in government schools due to her concerted efforts.

Sources said she preferred admitting her son to a government primary school contrary to the tendency of government schoolteachers seeking admission of their wards in public schools.

Not only this, she conducted door-to-door visits in the surrounding villages and motivated parents to get their children admitted at her government primary school and ensured them that their children would get quality education.

The primary school where Nirjla teaches had only 26 students when she joined, but now it has a strength of nearly 300 students.

Significantly, nowadays this school is giving a stiff competition to public schools imparting primary education in the area.

She was accorded a state award also by the Governor in 2012 for her distinguished contribution in the field of education. The school has now emerged as a role model for other primary educational institutions.

Nirjla’s father is a retired government teacher. He said she felt great after receiving the national award for teaching.

“Sharing the credit with the entire teaching staff and pupils of her school she has given a message to the teaching community asking them to teach with dedication, hard work and creativity,” he said. 

Nurpur, September 14
After getting motivation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Teacher’s Day in which he had exhorted students to save electricity, the students of local Noorpur Public School here have launched energy saving campaign. A group of 12 students has formed an Energy Conserving Audit (ECA) team under the guidance of school managing director Arvind Dogra and divided it into four sub-committees for launching awareness campaign.

To reduce energy consumption in the school, they have prepared posters and stickers for educating students, teachers and the non-teaching staff of the school about ways to save electricity. The message of energy conservation is also being disseminated through small skits and verbal awareness messages during morning assembly of the school.

Before launching this campaign, the team has recorded the current reading of the electricity meters installed in all blocks of the schools and also collected data relating to the previous power bills and electricity consumption during the past a few months of the school.

The team is motivating the students to turn off fans and lights before the morning assembly, leaving classrooms in the recess and at the end of school time. The team members are also keeping a tab on the wasteful use of electricity by visiting every classroom in the school.

As per information, the team has also urged the school principal to replace all tungsten bulbs with CFLs in the classrooms. The names of the classes which are not co-operating and indifferent towards the energy conservation drive will be announced in the morning assembly so that students don’t forget to turn off lights and fans.

Shimla, September 14
Residents of Shimla, Mandi, Kangra, Sirmaur and Hamirpur districts appear to be more aware of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and lead in seeking information through the RTI, while those in the tribal and backward districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti trail far behind.

As per the data procured from the office of the Information Commission, 61,202 applications were filed with 110 public authorities during 2012-13. The appeals and complaints were filed with the Commission in 1,120 cases which constituted 1.8 per cent of total complaints, implying that the response to RTIs at the Public Information Officer’s (PIOs) level was quite satisfactory.

The Commission received 427 appeals against the decisions of PIOs and the first appellate authorities (FAA) and 693 complaints pertaining to non-receipt of information, incomplete information or delayed response during the year.

Out of these 427 appeals from all 12 districts of Himachal and outside the state against the decisions of PIOs and FAA, a maximum of 125 appeals filed were in Shimla, followed by Mandi (51), Kangra (48), Una and Hamirpur (31 each), Solan (290), Bilaspur and Sirmaur (23 each), Chamba (19), Kullu (14), Kinnaur (4) and Lahaul and Spiti (1) and outside state (28).

Apart from appeals, the Commission also received 693 complaints, out of which 408 complaints (59 per cent) were received from Shimla, Kangra, and Sirmaur and Hamirpur districts. The backward district of Sirmaur with 109 complaints, led in filing complaints followed by Kangra (104), Hamirpur 101, Shimla (94), Mandi (86), Solan and outside state (49 each), Bilaspur (39), Chamba (23), Una (180, Kullu (16), Kinnaur (4) and Lahaul and Spiti (1).

Out of the total applications filed, 1,396 (2.3 per cent) applications were rejected by the PIOs, while the number of appeals filed before the FAA was 1,232, which is 1.9 percent of the total applications received.

As per the reports submitted by the public authorities, including HP High Court, DC office, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Shimla, Solan, Una, Transport Department, Elementary Education, Irrigation and Public Health, Cooperative, Public Works Department, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Women and Child Development, Urban Development, Department, HP State Electricity Board Limited, Subordinate Service Selection Board and Himachal Road Transport Corporation, as many as 20 of these received more than 1,000 applications during the year.

Eight of the public authorities received 501 to 1,000 applications, 28 received 101 to 500 applications, while 54 received less than 100 applications.

In spite of only two Commissioners, the Information Commission had the lowest pendency of 169 in March 2012 and only 95 pending cases in March 2013.

Information Commissioner, KD Batish said: “Out of 862 (693 + 169) complaints with the Information Commission, 767 were decided by the Commission during 2012-13 and the disposal rate was probably the highest in the north.”

Palampur, September 14
The police have decided to review the no-traffic zones declared in Palampur town.

Official sources said here on Thursday that the decision had been taken keeping in view the inconvenience being caused to the public as vehicle owners were facing the problem of parking in local markets.

It is also learnt that the traffic police will allow the parking of vehicles in no-parking areas. However, during peak hours, vehicles will not be allowed into the parking areas to avoid traffic jams. The traffic police is being directed not to challan vehicles immediately unless a prior warning has been given to owners of vehicles.

The traffic situation in Palampur has got worse with long queues of vehicles being witnessed daily in different parts of the town. Tourists visiting the town are the worst affected as they remain trapped in traffic jams for a long time.

Though there has been a manifold increase in the number of vehicles in the town, the width of most of the roads is the same as it was 20 years ago.

The narrow Mandi-Pathankot national highway passing through the town further complicates the matter. In the absence of a bypass in the town, the narrow national highway has become a major traffic hazard as all heavy vehicles, including buses and trucks, enter the town through the highway, causing frequent traffic jams on it.

Though the Holta bypass in the town is fully operational, almost all heavy vehicles hardly use the route. The traffic police is well aware of the situation, but no steps have been initiated by it till date for diverting heavy traffic through this bypass.

Hamirpur, September 14
Even as the government has spent over Rs 9 crore on constructing a bridge over the Beas near Bhaleth in Sujanpur subdivision here, there seems no end to the woes of people living in the Changar area on the boundary of Hamirpur and Kangra districts as road connectivity still eludes them.

Villages in Sihor Balla are yet to witness development due to a delay in the construction of approach roads to the bridge.

Though the construction of the bridge has been undertaken by the Public Works Department (PWD) at Thural in Kangra, it is yet to be connected with roads on either side.

Since the nearest hospital, market and education hub is in Sujanpur, area residents are forced to carry patients to Sujanpur in palkis to get medical aid.

The nearest road for people is at Bhaleth village from where a taxi or an ambulance can be hired to ferry patients and people to Sujanpur or Hamirpur.

During his last visit to Sujanpur for inaugurating the state-level Holi Utsav, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had assured people that this would be done on a war footing. But the link road to the bridge is yet to be made.

Though the bridge had been completed, the delay in the construction of approach roads has led to resentment among people.

They said the construction work should have been done along with the construction of the bridge so that they could get the benefit at the earliest.

It is learnt that the tender for the construction of approach roads has been floated, but this is likely to take another three to six months’ time.

SP Kaushik, Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), who is in charge of the work, said they had asked the contractor to speed up the work so that it could be completed within a stipulated time.

Nurpur, September 14
The family members of Ragubir Singh (70), a resident of Dergia village in the Sakri gram panchayat of Nagrota Surian development block, have been spending sleepless nights for the past few days after a landslide hit the boundary of their house. They are living under constant threat as the house may collapse anytime.

Ragubir is running from pillar to post to get safety for his family. He had approached the block development officer (BDO), Nagrota Surian, and the gram panchayat pradhan in this regard. He had also appealed to local MLA Ravinder Singh Ravi.

Keeping in view the threat to the house, the Sakri gram panchayat had passed a resolution underlining the necessity of constructing a retaining-cum-protection wall adjoining Ragubir’s house.

The office of the BDO, Nagrota Surian, through the panchayat’s technical assistant, had also prepared an estimate of Rs 1.60 lakh for the construction of this wall meant for the protection of the house. The estimate is being submitted to the local MLA for sanction of requisite funds.

Shimla, September 14
While the second semester examinations of undergraduate courses are over and evaluation is in progress and the third semester has started, the examination wing of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) has claimed that the results of the first semester will be declared by September 20.

The declaration of results had been delayed by nearly two months due to the “mess” created by the hasty implementation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), shortage of staff and failure of most of the affiliated colleges to adapt to the new system. As many as 36,000 students of undergraduate courses are awaiting their results.

“We have been able to provide ‘self-speaking’ software and the teething troubles in switching over to the new evaluation and grading system appears to be over. Hopefully, results of the first semesters will be out by September 20,” Controller of Examination Prof Shyam Kaushal said, adding that the issue regarding the generation of 14-digit roll numbers by colleges had also been resolved.

“Neither the examination branch nor the colleges were consulted to understand their constraints while taking the arbitrary decision that involved future of thousands of undergraduate students and the examination branch was told that ‘a self-speaking software’ will be provided and all functions will be online,” members of the Students Central Association (SCA) said.

A computer-generated 14-digit roll number valid for all six semesters was to be provided to the students for posting all data online as per the requirements in the software, but it was not done by a majority of the colleges. The colleges generated their own roll numbers and sent hard copies of awards, adding to the burden of examination branch, reeling under staff crunch, they said.

”The examination wing is working with half the strength and introduction of RUSA has doubled its work as examinations are being held twice a year. While the number of subjects in each semester has increased from four to seven under RUSA, a majority of the staff is not familiar with the newly introduced ‘standard deviation’ for giving grades. There will be seven grades, three each on the higher and lower side of mean, calculation of which is a statistical exercise,” they said.

Shimla, September 14
Prof ADN Bajpai, Vice-Chancellor, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), yesterday stressed the need to understand the contemporary relevance of Hindi, not only as a language of communication, but also a language of thought process and work.

“Hindi is our vision with its own historical and geographical dimensions and it is a language of communication that unites the country,” he said while speaking at Hindi Utsav organised by the Hindi Department of the university.

Prof Chanderkala Padia, newly-appointed Chairperson of the Indian Institute of Advance Study, said, “Hindi is our mothertongue and we should be proud of our language.” 

Chamba, September 14
The Dasehra Cricket Tournament started at Chamba today. DK Chaudhary, Superintendent of Police (SP), was the chief guest at the inauguration function. Dheeraj Mahajan, president, Shri Ram Leela Club, presented the memento to the chief guest and introduced him to both the teams. Two matches were played today. In the first match, Green Valley beat Junior Jadera by 126 runs.

In the second match, Bagori team beat Bakani Club by three wickets.

Major SC Nayyar, organiser of the tournament, said 40 teams were participating in the tournament, which would continue till October first week. He further said the winner and the runner-up teams would be given cash prize, mementoes and trophy.

Shimla, September 14
The government decided to register all construction workers engaged in various works under MGNREGA with the Himachal Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.

Disclosing this here on Thursday, Industries and Labour Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said the decision was taken at a meeting with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. “The decision will benefit over 25,000 people engaged in construction works being taken under MGNREGA,” he said. Vice-Chairman of the board Hardeep Singh Bawa was also present at the meeting.

Agnihotri said there were about 55,000 people working all over the state under MGNREGA and about half were in construction work. “All those who have completed 90 days of work in a year and are in the age group of 18 to 60 years will be eligible for being registered by the board,” he said. He added that the Panchayat Secretary would issue them certificate, based on which the Labour Officer will register the worker under the board.

Bawa said the decision would benefit workers in the villages as the board had 14 welfare schemes.

Palampur, September 14
Minister of Multi-Purpose Projects and Power, Agriculture and Non-Conventional Energy Sources Sujan Singh Pathania has appreciated the role of CSK HP Agriculture University for contributing substantially in improving the agriculture productivity in the state.

Talking to mediapersons here on Friday evening, Pathania said the annual revenue of about Rs 15,000 crore was generated from agriculture and allied sectors.

“The college has produced more than 1,600 graduates who are contributing in transforming the agriculture scenario of the state,” he said.

He said agriculture was contributing 13.7 per cent to the national GDP. The contribution of the agriculture sector in the state was 15 per cent of the state GDP.

Agriculture had become a challenge due to vagaries of weather, climatic variations, fragmentation of landholdings, pest and disease problems, unorganised marketing and pulls and pressure of the world trade. Under this situation, there was a need to maintain a steady growth rate of at least 4 per cent in the agriculture sector, he said.

“Though the growth of agriculture is very promising, yet to make our country a global leader in agriculture, it is imperative to integrate it with developments in other sectors. The development in the Information Technology (IT) over the past few decades have been tremendous and offered a great potential in improving crop husbandry,” he added.

He said various modern technologies like precision farming, organic agriculture, pest surveillance and forecasting, molecular breeding and bio-technological approaches offered vast opportunities for enhancing agriculture productivity, thereby ensuring economical as well as nutritional security.

Kangra, September 14
A team of 24 members of the Himachal Pradesh Power Lifting Association left for Goa today to participate and represent the hill state at the Senior National Power Lifting Championship.

The championship will be held between September 16 and 21 under the leadership of Jeewan Kumar, an international silver medal recipient.

Kewal Singh Pathania, state president of the association, gave the team a warm send-off at Rait village in Kangra.

He said the team comprising 20 boys and four girls were selected through the state-level tests. — OC