Shimla, September 24
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today reserved its verdict on a plea to review the ban on animal sacrifices in religious places.

The petitioners contended in their application that animal sacrifices were a matter of faith and belief and hence the order of ban may be reviewed. Today the matter was listed before a Division Bench comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Sureshwar Thakur and after hearing all stakeholders on the plea, the Bench reserved its order. During the course of hearing, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Kullu Maheshwar Singh was also present in the court room.

However, on the other side, supporters of the ban pleaded before the court that the faith, ritualistic worship and its continuation must change in the modern era.

The court had imposed a ban on animal scarifies and directed the state that no person would sacrifice any animal.

Aggrieved at this order, some persons approached the court and urged it to review its order.

The application for review was listed before the court and after hearing all parties, the court reserved its verdict.

Dharamsala, September 24
Four Nobel laureates will visit Dharamsala on October 1 and 2 to participate in the 25th anniversary of conferment of the Nobel Peace prize on the Dalai Lama. The Nobel laureates, who will visit Dharamsala, include Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman.

The department of information and international relations of the Central Tibetan Administration said it would be a rare congregation of five Nobel laureates, including the Dalai Lama. This event will also coincide with the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The gathering of the Nobel laureates from different parts of the world in Dharamsala will symbolise the support and appreciation for the Dalai Lama’s tireless efforts towards promotion of human values, inter-religious harmony and preservation of the Tibetan culture.

Jody Williams is the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which was launched by six NGOs in October 1992. The Nobel Peace Prize 1997 was awarded to Jody Williams for her work on banning and clearing landmines.

Shirin Ebadi was Iran’s first woman judge. After Khomeini’s revolution in 1979, she was dismissed. Ebadi opened a legal practice and began defending people who were being persecuted by the authorities. She took up the struggle for human rights and especially the rights of women and children. The Nobel Peace Prize 2003 was awarded to Shirin Ebadi for her efforts for democracy and human rights.

Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist, social worker and women’s rights advocate. She is the founder and president of the Gbowee Peace Foundation, Africa, based in Monrovia. Leymah is best known for leading a non-violent movement that brought together Christian and Muslim women to play a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s devastating 14-year civil war in 2003. The Nobel Peace Prize 2011 was awarded jointly to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman.

Tawakkol Karman is a Yemeni journalist, politician, senior member of the of Al-Islah political party and human rights activist. She leads the group Women Journalists Without Chains, which she co-founded in 2005. She has been called the “Iron Woman” and “Mother of the Revolution” by Yemenis. The Nobel Peace Prize 2011 was awarded jointly to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman.

The Nobel laureates are Jody Williams—coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines Shirin Ebadi—Took up struggle for human rights, especially the rights of women and children in Iran Leymah Gbowee—Liberian peace activist, social worker and women’s rights advocate Tawakkol Karman—Yemeni journalist, has been called the “Iron Woman” and “Mother of the Revolution” by Yemenis

Dharamsala, September 24
The state government will start a heli-taxi service from Chamunda to the Himani Chamunda temple in Kangra district. The service will be inaugurated by Housing and Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma tomorrow.

Sources here said the heli-taxi service would be available at rates ranging from Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 per person for visiting the Himani Chamunda temple. A private company would operate a seven-seater helicopter from a spot near Chamunda temple, 20 km from Dharamsala, to the Himani Chamunda temple that is located at 12,000 feet from sea level. It would be a 10-minute flight from Chamunda temple to Himani Chamunda temple.

It is the second time that an attempt is being made to start the heli-taxi service to the Himani Chamunda temple. During the stint of the previous BJP government also, a private company was given the task of launching the service to the Himani Chamunda temple.

However, the company failed to start the service for want of certain permissions and lack of viability.

The previous company had given up the idea of starting the service on the plea that heavy rain lashed the region for at least four months in a year during which it was almost impossible to operate helicopter services in the area. In winter also, the Himani Chamunda temple receives very heavy snowfall and it would be difficult to land a helicopter there. This leaves just a few operational months in the area.

In addition to that, the area in which the Himani Chamunda temple is located is forest land. The authorities concerned would have to get permissions from the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment for diverting the area for other purpose.

Himani Chamunda is a small temple made of rocks at 12000 feet. One has to trek 12 km from the lower the Chamunda Devi temple to reach Himani Chamunda. There was no road to Himani Chamunda temple and facility available near Himani Chamunda temple to house the trekkers or visitors. One has to return from the temple as there was no arrangement for light and water.

The local management committee of the temple had made some arrangements for visiting pilgrims. However, these were destroyed in a major fire at the temple. 

Shimla, September 24
Himachal Pradesh University’s move to nominate the Students Central Association (SCA), ignoring the protests by students, backfired as its office-bearers resigned here today.

The president, secretary and joint secretary of HPU tendered their resignations from their posts and alleged that neither they were taken into consideration nor their consent was sought.

In a letter to the Dean, Students Welfare, the nominated president Jyoti Sharma, secretary Damini Jinha and joint secretary Pallavi said they had been selected for the posts without seeking their permission. The resignations were tendered minutes after the SCA was announced, stating that they supported the movement against fee hike and were not interested in holding the posts.

The students alleged that they did not file nominations for the SCA, but they were nominated without their consent. The process had been followed in all affiliated colleges, SFI leaders alleged.

HPU and affiliated colleges completed the process of nomination to SCA members based on academic merit and excellence in sports and co-curricular activities. Toppers from all branches, two students excelling in cultural and co-curricular activities and two outstanding sportspersons were nominated to SCAs.

Jyoti Sharma, student of the third semester, Department of Bio-science (Botany), was nominated president, Preeti Devi, (third semester), Department of Mathematics, vice-president, Damini Jinha (first semester) Department of Economics secretary and Pallavi from Department of Chemistry as joint secretary.

A total of 131 students, including 96 girls, were nominated to the SCAs, including 38 from first semester of PG regular diploma course, 33 from third and fifth semesters of regular PG courses, 38 from MPhil, LLM and MTech, 19 from PhD regular course and two each from the cultural and sports category.

Members of the Joint Action Committee said the purpose of constituting a high-powered committee would be a farce if the university did not put on hold the decision on fee hike till the report of the committee was submitted.

SFI and ABVP state secretaries Manish Sharma and Ashish Sikta said student leaders were being threatened by the state government to stop the agitation. The student leaders reiterated their the decision to hold rallies on September 26.

Nurpur, September 24
The internet, mobile and landline services of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) remained suspended in the town throughout the day after an underground optical fiber cable (OFC) was snapped during digging in the Niazpur locality here today. The digging was being done for laying underground sewerage pipes.

The services of inter-telephone exchange of over 1,000 landline telephone lines of the local telephone exchange, mobile services, banking services, ATM services, online services in government and semi-government offices, broadband and Wi-Fi services remained paralysed throughout the day.

Tilak Thakur, Sub Divisional Officer, BSNL, Nurpur, said a demand note for realising damage charges was being given to the Irrigation-cum-Public Works Department, which was the executing agency of laying underground sewerage pipes in the town. He said efforts were being made to restore all services till evening. 

Shimla, September 24
HPCC president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has dissolved all 10 departments of the party which had been practically non-functional and existed only on papers.

“With the permission of the AICC, I have dissolved all departments of the party which will soon be constituted by appointing people who are active and able to devote more time for party affairs,” said Sukhu here on Monday.

The 10 departments have been dissolved as they were lying defunct and some of these had not even met once since they were constituted.

The 10 departments and their state presidents are – Minority Department-Rehmat Ali Khan; OBC Department-Surinder Chaudhary; Ex-Servicemen Department - Col BC Lagwal (retd); Scheduled Caste Department-Kuldeep Kumar, MLA; Panchayati Raj Department-Ranjit Singh Verma, former minister; Intellectual Department-Prof NK Singh; Kissan and Khet Mazdoor Congress Department-Ram Nath Sharma, former MLA; Sports Department-RR Rohi; Vayapar Department-Ajit Mahajan and Pensioner Department-OP Sharma.

Hamirpur, September 24
Ready to take on the enemy with all her might, 21-year-old Ekshita Rana, hailing from Baroti village in Barsar subdivision of the district, has got commission in the Indian Army as Lieutenant.

Her achievement has brought laurels not only to her parents and Sainik School where she studied, but has made the dream of her grandfather, late Capt Basant Ram, come true.

A former student of Sainik School, Sujanpur Tihra, Ekshita completed her BSc (Hons) from Panjab University, Chandigarh. “It was discipline and focused approach towards the goal that helped me succeed,” she said.

“The sense of pride and happiness that I saw in the eyes of my parents as they pinned stars on my uniform made it the happiest moment of my life,” she added.

She passed out from the Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai, on September 13, with her proud parents in attendance.

“She was determined to join the Indian Army and was preparing for it with all her zeal and zest,” said her father Hoshiar Singh Rana, posted as Principal at Government Senior Secondary School, Bijhri. Her mother, a lecture at Sainik School, Sujanpur Tihra, said her training at the school helped Ekshita achieve her goal. She was a disciplined student, brilliant in studies and a good sportsperson too.

Lieutenant Ekshita Rana is joining her first posting at Panagarh in West Bengal.

Solan, September 24
With non-Himachalis seeking registration under the Tourism Department’s much-hyped home stay scheme, meant for the local rural youth, the state exchequer is suffering a huge loss.

As these units are exempt from various taxes and are provided power at domestic rates, the Kasauli area has a large number of such units set up by outsiders solely for the purpose of evading taxes. At many places, apart from a caretaker, no other person resides, contrary to the norm of the owner residing on the same premises.

Though the scheme was meant to promote rural village tourism, in 2008 the state had made it mandatory that units having more than three rooms will not be covered under this scheme. But some units having six to nine rooms are registered under the scheme.

This is leading to large-scale tax evasion as the units are exempt from luxury tax and are not charged commercial rates for power utilisation, contrary to the other tourism units.

Though the units are supposed to give a homely ambience to the outsiders, a visit to such places by The Tribune revealed that they operated like other commercial tourist places and charged rates higher than tourist units.

JS Rana, executive engineer of HP State Electricity Board Limited at Parwanoo, said the units could not charge commercial power tariff from such units as they were registered under the home stay scheme. But since more than three rooms could not be registered under the scheme, he would take up the issue with the senior officials.

This has put a question mark over the working of the field staff of the Tourism Department. It was, however, learnt that such units had been registered when the scheme was introduced and each official was given a target to register such units in their respective area to make the scheme a success.

District Tourism Development Officer Arun Bhardwaj said they were not giving any such permissions now and such cases would be inquired into as the scheme was strictly meant for Himachalis where only three rooms could be used for tourism purposes.

Shimla, September 24
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today reserved its order on the preliminary objections taken by the Income Tax Department in response to petitions filed by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his family members challenging the order to transfer cases relating to investigations into their income tax returns to Chandigarh.

During the course of hearing, the IT Department contended that the petitioners had filed the petitions with the motive of delaying investigations into tax returns and the petitions were not maintainable as no legal right of the petitioners had been infringed and the Income Tax Commissioner had only acted in exercise of his statutory duties.

It was further argued that the petitioners were heard before passing of the orders and they had option to file an appeal against his orders.

It was also submitted by the IT Department that before passing of stay orders, the jurisdiction and entire records of the case had already been transferred on July 21 to the Commissioner, Income Tax, Central Circle, Gurgaon, and the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (DCIT), Central Circle, Chandigarh, for further investigation.

It was further contended that the cases of persons in the state whose financial transactions were closely interlinked with Virbhadra and his family members had already been transferred to the DCIT, Central Circle, Chandigarh, and the cases of 11 other persons, who were being assessed at Delhi were in process of transfer to the DCIT, Chandigarh.

Mandi, September 24
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been requested to send a team to take stock of the violation of human rights of students belonging to the Scheduled Caste.

In a letter to the NHRC Chairman, former HAS officer and free legal consultant BR Kaundal said the violation of human rights of SC students was being committed in front of teachers and the administration.

He said the students belonging to the SC category in schools, especially in the interior areas, were not allowed to sit with students of the general category while taking mid-day meal.

Such an incident took place recently at Neri Middle School of Katoula area in the district, he said, adding that similar reports were coming from schools located in the Nachan and Thachi areas.

He said the administration and the police instead of taking action had been working as mediators between the victims and the offenders.

Una, September 24
The State Power Diploma Engineers Association today alleged that the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) was facing acute shortage of spare parts and technical manpower in the field.

In a press statement issued today, association president RD Agnihotri termed the situation as grim. It was getting increasingly difficult for their cadre to keep power lines running, he said.

Agnihotri said items of daily use like fuse wires, insulating tape rolls, transformer oil, etc were missing from Junior Engineer (JE) circles as there had been no fresh supplies for a very long time. The JEs were working under a lot of stress. “Consumers are increasing, but there is no support from the HPSEB management,” he rued.

He said at present there were about 130 HPSEB JEs on deputation with the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), but the latter had decided to repatriate them to the HPSEB. Agnihotri said HPSEB JEs had opted to work for the BBMB when JEs from Haryana and Punjab were unwilling to work there. The Supreme Court had already announced a share of 7.19% for the state in the BBMB. On the basis of this, about 450 HPSEB JEs should be on deputation with the BBMB. The association president urged the state to take up the matter with the BBMB management. 

Una, September 24
The Vocational Rehabilitation Centre of the Union Ministry for Labour and Employment organised a job fair for people with disabilities here yesterday.

More than 200 persons with disabilities attended the fair during which 40 persons were selected for various posts in industrial units. Fifteen industrial houses from Tahliwal, Mehatpur and Gagret Industrial areas had set up stalls to select candidates for jobs.

The National Disabilities Financial and Development Corporation had also set up a camp at the venue for providing information regarding financial grants, scholarships and loans at cheap lending rates for differently abled persons.

On the occasion, the Composite Regional Centre for People with Disabilities, Sundernagar, provided free wheelchairs, tricycles, crutches, hearing aids and tool kits to beneficiaries.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Jain said differently abled persons did not need mercy. They needed the support of people so that they too could contribute towards society, he said. He said such people developed other abilities which compensated their handicap.

He urged industrial houses to provide more employment opportunities to differently abled persons. Volunteers of the Inner Wheel Club led by its president Jyoti Chaudhary rendered service in handling and registration of candidates at the fair, while Rotary Club, Una Greater, also participated in the programme. Upinder Singh, in charge of the Rehabilitation Centre, was also present on the occasion. 

Dharamsala, September 24
Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Technical Education GS Bali has warned the officials who did not take part in a meeting of the district grievances committee, Kangra unit, today. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Bali at Dharamsala.

Bali said the meeting of the committee was vital for redressing the problems of the common man. The officers who were not attending the meeting would be taken to task as they were hampering the attempts of the state government to improve governance, he said.

He also pulled up the MLAs who were members of the committee, but were not attending the meetings. Information regarding the meeting was given well in time, he said.

After the meeting, Bali said at the last meeting, 40 issues had come up before the committee. Out of these, 90 per cent grievances had been redressed while work on the rest was under progress.

In today’s meeting, the committee received 67 complaints, including grievance regarding the fencing of Dhaliara school, damage to personal properties due to monsoon, construction of link roads, installing streetlights, etc.

The committee approved Rs 2 lakh for installing street lights. Bali also directed IPH officials to install 10 handpumps in the Indora area and implement all the announcements made by the CM during his visits to Kangra district.

He also asked the members of the committee to send a report regarding complaints coming from Tanda medical college to the chief minister and health minister.

C Paulrasu, Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, who was also present in the meeting, said all the dhaba owners in the district would be directed to display rate lists.

Dharamsala, September 24
Tribal students studying in Government College, Dharamsala, are in the lurch as the passage to their hostel has been blocked by a private land owner.

Tsering, from the Rinchen Zangpo Society for Spiti Development, which is managing the hostel for tribal children from the Spiti valley, while talking to The Tribune, said they had been pleading with various authorities to get the passage to the hostel reopened. The owner of a private piece of land near the hostel had raised a wall in the passage about six months ago. The passage was the only way to reach the hostel.

Now the students have to scale the wall to reach the building. The other material for the hostel is also being carried by porters.

The person who raised the wall had recently threatened the students against using the passage, even by foot.

“After the passage was blocked, we gave an application to the revenue authorities for the demarcation of land. The officials demarcated the area and held that the land was not owned by the person. However, despite the demarcation, the authorities concerned did not take any action to get the passage opened,” Tsering said.

The members of the Rinchen Zangpo Society for Spiti Development met the district authorities and sought action against those who had blocked the passage to their hostel.

The hostels for tribal children from the Spiti valley have been brought up in Dharamsala, under the aegis of the Union Government. Since colleges are not available in the valley, many children come to Dharamsala Government College.

Presently, about 60 tribal children from Spiti are staying in the hostel.

Kangra ADM Rakesh Sharma, to whom the society officials handed over their petition, has marked it to the Dharamsala SDM for further action.

However, the officials of the society alleged that blocking the passage to the hostel by raising a wall was illegal. It was strange that all the officials concerned were passing the buck to one another rather than taking action against the illegal blockage.

Shimla, September 24
North India’s oldest, Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, has been adjudged as the country’s best boys boarding school, dethroning Doon School, Dehradun, which had been retaining the top position for the past few years.

The ranking was given on the basis of survey conducted by “C-fore”, a well-known Delhi market research and opinion poll agency for Education World, which has been publishing for the past six years.

While the Bishop Cotton School (BCS), Shimla, has been named as the top boys boarding institution, Scindia School, Gwalior, and Doon School, Dehradun, were ranked second and third, a spokesman of BCS Praveen Sharma said.

The “C-fore” rate and rank over 800 most high-profile schools in the country on 14 parameters and BCS stood first in leadership and management quality, disabled friendliness and sports education.

The school, which has produced Army officers, judges, ambassadors and writers, has consistently been ranked among the best boys residential schools in the country, he added.

Roy Robinson, Headmaster of the school since 2004, credited it to his dedicated teachers and other staff who work in close cooperation with him and students without whom this great achievement would not have been possible.

He said the school was strongly rooted in traditional values, sports, life skills, education (manners and discipline), and expert pastoral care. The school is famous worldwide for British-style boarding.

BCS is the first public school in Asia to start the house system.

Una, September 24
Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri inaugurated the district-level 43rd Under-19 School Sports Tournament at the Dulehar stadium in Haroli block here today.

More than 450 students from 24 senior secondary schools are participating in the hockey, football, basketball and boxing events.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said Dulehar and Khad panchayats were coming up as sports hubs in Haroli segment. He said Rs 91 lakh had been sanctioned for setting up a football academy at Khad village. A sum of Rs 51 lakh had already been transferred to the Public Works Department for implementing the work, he said. 

Paonta Sahib, September 24
Cash and valuables were stolen from the house of a bank manager residing in Ward No. 11 by unidentified miscreants here late last night.

It is learnt that the bank manager, who resides on the ground floor, was sleeping with his wife and child when four miscreants entered the house by jumping over the boundary wall and making their way into the bedroom by breaking open the iron grill.

They stole a licensed gun, 16 bullets and some silver and gold articles. The landlord, who resides on the top floor, raised the alarm, but three of the miscreants managed to flee the spot while the fourth one ran away on a cycle parked near the house.

Eyewitnesses alleged that though they informed policemen, who were on night patrol nearby, they did not care to catch the miscreants.

A complaint was lodged by the bank manager this morning.

Shimla, September 24
A person died of scrub typhus at the Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital here last night. Now the toll of persons dying from this disease has risen to nine in the state.

Medical Superintendent Ramesh said 15 new cases of scrub typhus had come to their notice and all patients were being treated at the hospital.

As many as 400 persons had been detected with the disease and about 2,500 were tested for the illness today, he added.

The symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, muscle pain, cough and gastrointestinal disorders. — TNS