Shimla, October 7
The move of state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, to create more than one District Congress Committee (DCC) in the bigger areas of Kangra, Mandi and Shimla and two party units in the bigger Assembly segments of Lahaul Spiti, Bharmour and Rohru, is being met with stiff opposition from senior party leaders.

Sukhu has held talks with several leaders, including Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister Vidya Stokes, Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur and Transport Minister GS Bali, in the recent past. Though he had set the ball rolling, a majority of the leaders are opposed to the move which they feel can indirectly reduce their stature if bigger districts are split even at the party level.

“Having more than one DCC in bigger districts is the need of the hour for better, effective and more accountable functioning of the party,” Sukhu stressed.

Notwithstanding the opposition to his proposal, he said there had been a mixed reaction and he would take the final decision only after taking everyone into confidence.

“The issue of the creation of more than one district unit is a very sensitive one and it must be discussed in the state executive so that everyone’s views can be elicited,” Bali said. He said though Sukhu had discussed the issue with him, he was yet to receive any written proposal.

Other ministers as well as legislators said they would oppose the move as it was not in the party’s interest and would lead to bickering and creation of more power centers.

Sukhu also intends to create two Block Congress Committees (BCCs) in the geographically difficult and bigger Assembly segments of Lahaul-Spiti, Bharmour and Rohru. “It is very difficult for partymen from Pangi to attend meetings of the Bharmour DCC and the same applies for people of Keylong and Kaza in Lahaul-Spiti and Dodra Kawar in Rohru,” he said. Having two BCC units for bigger segments would help in better functioning of the party, he added.

The move of having two BCC in one Assembly segment is also likely to be opposed by the MLAs and ministers concerned. In fact, the BJP had also done a similar thing where three district units were created in Kangra and two each in Shimla and Mandi. As per the proposal, Kangra, which has 15 Assembly segments, will have three DCC units, while Mandi and Shimla will have two DCC units each. Mandi has a total of 10 Assembly segments, while Shimla has eight. Most of the other districts have four or five districts each, which Sukhu feels can be managed by a single existing DCC.

Shimla, October 7
Residents, including tourists, have to get permits and pay congestion charges to visit the 13,050-foot-high Rohtang Pass. But over 241 Raid De Himalaya motor rally vehicles got a virtual free run from Vashisht, Kothi and green tax barriers at Manali.

The organisers paid congestion charges for just 95 vehicles and green tax charges for just 55 rally vehicles, which reached Manali on October 5, revealed the officials posted at the barriers.

The event is in the eye of a storm for underpaying green tax and congestions charges while crossing the green tax and Vashisht barriers in Manali. It is the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order that all vehicles going to the Rohtang Pass, Lahual-Spiti and Leh have to get permits and pay Rs 50 per vehicle as congestion charges.

Residents of Lahaul-Spiti also have to get permits, though they have been exempted from paying the congestion charges while travelling in their private vehicles. But many rally vehicles, despite being highly polluting and commercially active, got a free run across Rohtang Pass, resented the residents in Manali and Lahaul. As per the organisers, there are 250 participants in the Raid, but spokesperson of the event, Sherlin Chopra, claimed about 141 teams were participating in the rally- 41 teams in extreme, 51 teams in adventure and 49 motor bikers. “I have no information on the number of marshal and supporting staff vehicles”, she added.

AR Thakur, president, Manali Hoteliers’ Association, said this is the 16th addition of the rally so they should have paid the green tax and congestion charges for all rally vehicles.

Dr CM Parshira, convener, Lahaul-Spiti Janjatiya Kalyan Samiti, said motor sports being a commercial activity, the organisers should properly pay the green tax and congestion charges imposed by the NGT.

The organisers, Himalayan Motorsport and Maruti-Suzuki, claimed they had submitted the list of participants to the district administration and paid the green tax and congestion charges.

But the inputs revealed that the rally organisers paid green tax of Rs 8,200 for 55 vehicles- 23 cars, two big vehicles and 30 motor bikes at Manali for the outside vehicles while vehicles with Himachal numbers were exempted from the green tax.

The organisers submitted a list of 95 vehicles for permits and paid congestion charges of Rs 50 per vehicle to cross the Rohatang Pass, said Vinay Dhiman, Manali SDM. “We are not aware as to how many vehicles actually crossed the Pass but we are verifying it as no vehicle from outside is allowed to enter the Pass without permits and paying charges”, he said.

Shimla, October 7
A two-day seminar on “Shimla: Harmonising Colonial Inheritance, Urban Aesthetics and Modernisation” began at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) here today.

Participants discussed various aspects of the hill station established by the British as a summer retreat for colonial ruling elite. The deeply entrenched “Britishness” in every aspect of the town and the fact that even after seven decades of Independence it still evokes the interest of residents, planners and tourists was discussed by the participants.

Various speakers who presented their papers focused on various aspects of the town and the rapidly changing socio-economic, political, morphological and architectural profile of the hill station. An attempt is being made by participants to recognise the divergent perspectives of scholars, administrators and architects in an attempt to take a close look at the manner in which the town has developed.

Prof Narayani Gupta spoke about “Urbanisation in South Asia in the Railway Age - 1860-1960”, Prof BS Marh on “Shimla: Nostalgia of History and an Enigma of Urban Planning”, Prof Sujata Patel on “The Conundrum of India Urbanism: Is there a Vision”, Prof Laxman Singh Thakur on “Stones and Styles of the Raj: Debates on British Architecture in Shimla”, Dr Ravinder Kumar Dhiman on “Morphology and Buildings of Colonial Shimla”.

Later, Ved Segan, who was closely associated with the conservation of the Gaiety Theatre here, spoke on “Learning Experience: A case study of Gaiety building restoration”. Saumya Sharma spoke on conservation of historic urban landscape of Shimla. 

Hamirpur, October 7
The fragrant sandalwood forest, set up by the Ayurveda Department at Neri, has come under mafia threat in the absence of any security.

The threat of theft by mafia looms large with there being some instances of illegal cutting of sandalwood trees in the recent past. The department too fears that if adequate security arrangements are not made in time, the trees would fall prey to mafia, as in Jwalamukhi and Bilaspur.

Located in the mid-Himalyan zone and spread over 28 acres, the forest was set up in 1998-99 by the state government. Officials of the Ayurveda Department had successfully propagated over a 100 species of various herbal plants, their major achievement being the propagation of sandalwood, neem, aloevera, ashwagandha, harad, kalmegh, lemon grass and amla, apart from other species, in 10 acres. Nurseries were also set up to grow various medicinal plants.

Now, the authorities are facing a hard time as there is no security arrangement in the garden. Though some fencing was done to protect the garden, it has become difficult to protect the garden from sandalwood mafia.

The species that were germinated in small beds of the garden nursery are safe, but plants like sandalwood and harad are at great risk. Initially, the plants were small and invisible, but now they have grown big and are conspicuous, besides being easily identifiable because of their fragrance.

In Neri Herbal Garden, more than 100 species of medicinal plants of different varieties have been propagated for demonstration purpose. “We are conducting various research activities for developing agro-techniques for medicinal plants,” said garden in-charge Madan Lal. Lack of sufficient manpower had also aggravated the problem of development and safety of the garden, he added.

Surender Maltu, Joint Director, Ayurveda Department, said they had some funds available with the department for the maintenance and if a proposal would be sent, funds could be released for fencing work.

Kullu, October 7
Emphasising the need to preserve the culture and “dev pratha”, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the government was committed to preserving the rich traditions and rituals of deities in the state.

He was presiding over a meeting of the Kardar Sangh at the Dev Sadan here today. He said:“Our deities are inseparable part of our lives and we are recognised because of our customs, culture and language.”

He said the government had made a provision of Rs 12.50 crore for religious ceremonies and rituals to be performed in temples. “We wanted to make it as a revolving fund during the previous Congress regime, but the same was curtailed by the successive BJP government,” he said.

The Chief Minister said under the Tenancy Act, the land of the deities was transferred to tenants and the then service renderers looking after work of the deities. A few of them became the owners of the land which was allotted in the name of devtas and in a few cases, the caretakers themselves became the landowners with no one to look after the affairs of the gods and goddesses and performing day-to-day rituals.

He said now the government had kept a revolving fund of Rs 5 crore for giving grants to the temples every year and the repair and renovations of the temples would be met with an additional fund, apart from the grant, which was to be provided by the Department of Language, Art and Culture.

“We should keep the Pahari architect of the temples alive during their renovations and repairs and the funds won’t be any constraint for meeting the requirements,” he stressed.

Una, October 7
Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri laid the foundation stone of a bridge, to be built at an estimated Rs 1.77 crore, at Nagnoli panchayat in his home constituency Haroli here today.

The 75-m-long bridge will ensure an all-weather road connectivity for a population of about 1,500.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said the panchayat was surrounded by tributaries of the Swan river from all sides and most part of the panchayat remained cut off from other parts of the district during monsoon. He said tenders amounting to Rs 20 crore for the channelisation of the tributaries in this panchayat had been finalised and work would be started at the earliest. The channelisation work would be undertaken under the Rs 922-crore Swan River Flood Management Project sanctioned during the present Congress regime in the state.

Agnihotri said Rs 1.5 crore for the construction of a link road from the village to the Una-Gagret road had also been sanctioned.

Former Vice-Chairman of the Agro-Packaging Corporation Omkar Sharma, Superintending Engineer of the Public Works Department, panchayat up-pardhan Kulvinder Singh, district-level officers and local residents were also present on the occasion. 

Kullu, October 7
“We should start a crusade to save the girl child,” said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh after launching the largest folk dance performance in the state in which as many as 8,760 local women took part at the Rath Ground here today.

On a two-day visit to Kullu on the occasion of the International Dusehra Festival, the Chief Minister said it was a remarkable performance by the local women and definitely it would give a strong message to those who committed the sin of killing the unborn girl foetus in the womb.

After administering the pledge of “Saving the Girl Child” to thousands of women present on the occasion, the Chief Minister said: “Discrimination with the girl child will not be tolerated and we will work together for eradicating the evil practice of female infanticide.”

“We should start a crusade to save the girl child and unless drastic measures are taken, as to give them better education, create skills and capability to enable them to stand on their own feet, it will be difficult for any nation to prosper,” he said.

Selective abortions should be discouraged and private clinics involved in the detection of the gender should be dealt with as per the laid down legal norms, he said.

The Chief Minister said no society could prosper without respecting the women folk. He said, “If due respect is given to women and if they are equipped with proper resources, they have the power to change the destiny of civilisations,” he said.

He said the need of the hour was to empower the womenfolk for a better tomorrow and there were millions of such women who were serving the nation as equal to their men counterparts. He said the rally to “Save the Girl Child” and the dance performance was superb, but the message should not merely be symbolic.

He lauded the efforts of the local administration which was an appreciable step for the preservation of the culture and customs of the state and were known world-wide.

The Chief Minister also honoured kabaddi player Kavita Thakur, a resident of Jagatsukh, Manali, who had received gold medal in the Asian Games at Incheon in South Korea.

Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar said it was the biggest-ever event which would be recorded in the Limca Book of Records. He said on the invitation of the district administration, women and even girls from the district voluntarily agreed to participate in the dance performance.

Later, the Chief Minister inaugurated the Nature Park at Mohal constructed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.

Shimla, October 7
People of Kinnaur district are pinning high hopes on Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s scheduled visit to the district for the restoration of roads.

Roads here have been opened, but not fully restored causing great inconvenience to people and leading to frequent accidents.

Locals rued that after the last year floods, no minister visited the district by road. They said though the Chief Minister visited the area, he came in a helicopter, thus could not see the deplorable condition of roads.

“We are waiting for the Chief Minister’s October 10 visit as driving on landslide-prone stretch, especially near Urni is a nightmare and with the beginning of the apple marketing season from higher hills, the problems of growers will further aggravate,” convener of the Him Lok Jagriti Manch RS Negi said.

“Roads are in a bad shape in Kinnaur district leading to frequent accidents and in the past six months, about 40 persons have died in road accidents in the district,” he said, adding that Urni had become a focal point of landslide with accidents occurring frequently.

“To add to the woes of people, the contractor has left the work on the widening of a 10-km stretch of road from the Pangi nullah to the Kharo bridge midway and water is overflowing at 12 places on this stretch making travelling perilous,” he added.

”Even the Nasing link road has not been opened for heavy vehicles and apple growers have been forced to carry their produce in small utility vehicles adding to cost on account of loading and unloading,” said another resident.

A local said apple growers in the high altitude areas of Kinnaur district (beyond Urni), who were forced to transport their produce via a diversion road, rued increase in distance by 21 km and steep climb from the Chulling nullah to Urni village.

Further, due to marriage season, it takes more than an hour to cross the 21-km-long Urni diversion route and long queues of vehicles could be seen stranded on the route. 

Dharamsala, October 7
The Union Ministry for HRD has sought a fresh proposal from the state government regarding the land to be offered for the construction of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) campus.

Sources said in a letter to the state government, the HRD Ministry had rejected the 400-acre land offered near the Indrunag temple. It had, however, proposed to accept the first proposal sent by the previous BJP government, in which about 500 acre land was offered in Dehra. It has asked the state government to sent maps of the land being offered there.

The BJP government had offered 500 acres at Dehra and about 200 acres at Dharamsala for the campus. However, the sources said the union ministry was in favour of having a consolidated campus for the university, rather than a bifurcated campus at two places.

Yoginder Verma, Vice-Chancellor of the CUHP, admitted the union ministry had sought a fresh proposal from the state government regarding land to be allotted for the institute. The university authorities were not concerned about the location of the land. They just wanted that the issue be resolved at the earliest, he said.

The university has been at the centre of a political controversy, delaying the campus of the institute by about four years. The previous BJP government wanted to have majority of the campus at Dehra. The Congress alleged that it was being done as the area fell in the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency, represented by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, son of former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal.

After the Congress took over, it changed the proposal of land and wanted the campus at Dharamsala. This was done under the influence of Minister for Housing and Urban Development Sudhir Sharma, who is a close aide of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and represents the Dharamsala Assembly constituency.

Sudhir Sharma, when asked to comment on the decision of the Union Ministry for HRD to seek fresh proposal of land, alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was trying to scuttle the CUHP project. The university was announced by Congress President Sonia Gandhi during a rally in Kangra. As per the announcement, it was to be brought up at Dharamsala. In case the Union Government rejected the land offered by the state government, fresh land in Dharamsala would be offered. About 1,800 kanal land at Sakoh battalion could also be considered for the project, he said.

The sources also said certain residents of Palampur were lobbying with Kangra MP Shanta Kumar for allotting land for the university at Palampur.

However, this push and pull between politicians to keep the CUHP campus within their constituencies is causing inordinate delay in execution of the project. The delay is creeping frustration in faculty, which is finding the temporary campus inadequate for academic and research work.

Dharamsala, October 7
Gaurav Ghai, a Ludhiana-based software engineer, had died after falling in a 150-m-deep gorge while on a trekking expedition to Triund. His body was recovered by the local police today.

Kangra ASP Shiv Kumar said the father of the deceased had filed a missing complaint with the Kangra police yesterday. After investigation, the police found that Gaurav had left for Triund, 8 km uphill of McLeodganj, on October 3 with a local potter Sanjay.

He had first approached the local mountaineering institute. The expert at the institute had advised him against going to Triund as the weather was inclement. However, he insisted that he was well versed with the trek and wanted to go.

The police then rounded up Sanjay, who claimed that the deceased had slipped and fallen into a deep gorge while returning from Triund on October 3. He did not inform the police about the incident fearing that he might get embroiled in the case, Sanjay said.

A case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered and investigations are on.

The possibility of murder has been ruled out as all the belongings of the deceased, including valuables and money, were intact, the ASP said.

Shimla, October 7
A four-day dance festival will be organised from October 16 at the Gaiety Theatre here. It will be conducted by the state Language, Art and Culture Department in collaboration with the Sangeet Natak Academy, New Delhi.

The festival is a part of the year-long celebrations to mark 150 years of Shimla as the former summer capital of India. Additional Chief Secretary, Language, Art and Culture, Upma Chaudhary said famous classical dancers of the country would perform during the festival.

On October 16, Dipti Omcheri Bhalla and her disciples from the Kathak Kendra, Delhi, will perform. Bindu Juneja from Bhopal and Preeti Patel and other artistes from Anjika, Kolkata, will perform Vishnu-Vilas and suryagati on October 17.

Madhur Bhakti will be performed by Laxmi Parthasarthy Atray from Chennai, while Kiran Segal and Pallavi from Odyssey Dance Music School, Delhi, will perform Ramayana in dance form on October 18. On the concluding day of the festival, noted dancer Sonal Mansingh and artistes of the Centre for Indian Classical Dance, New Delhi, will present dance on the theme of “When the gods meet”.

Entry to the Gaiety Theatre would be strictly on passes which would be available free of cost from October 14. 

Hamirpur, October 7
Passion and patience are the key to success in the fashion industry and there is no shortcut to success.

This was stated by Miss India-2011 finalist Aprajita Sharma here today.

She was here to inaugurate a three-day fashion carnival of the International Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD).

She said the only disadvantage for girls from the North was lack of exposure and communication skills that were required to be refined.

She gave tips to students of INIFD on dress designing and ramp walk. She said dresses designed by the students were more wearable than those created by fashion designers.

She said the fashion industry was secure for girls and it was a misconception that girls were not safe there.

“We only need to have focused approach and those who wish to enter here for glamour and easy success should refrain from it. The world of fashion is full of struggle and hard work and those who enjoy travelling can do wonders in fashion, acting and modelling,” she added.

She also inaugurated an LG showroom here today. 

Kangra, October 7
Nearly Rs 1 crore, 177 gm of gold and 20.5 kg of silver were offered by devotees during the just concluded Ashwin Navratra at the two shakti peeths of Jwalamukhi and Bajjreshwari.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner C Palrasu today said during the festival, which started on September 25 and concluded on October 3, more than 1 lakh pilgrims visited the Jwalamukhi shrine and offered Rs 61,87,000 lakh, nearly 112 gm of gold and 5.5 kg of silver.

Kangra Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ajit Bhardwaj, who is Assistant Commissioner, Temples, said at the Bajjreshwari Devi temple, devotees offered Rs 36 lakh, 65 gm of gold and over 15 kg of silver during the Navratras.

Dharamsala, October 7
The family of Indian Army soldier Abhijai Thapa of Dharamsala who was killed in a helicopter crash at Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh) on October 1, wants the state government to recognise his heroic act. The family is claiming that he lost his life to save the lives of hundreds of civilians.

Major Thapa (29) was serving with Army Aviation Corps and was killed with two of his colleagues after their chopper crashed due to some technical snag. A trained pilot, Major Thapa had an experience of more than 250 flying hours and was posted with 39 (Independent) Recce and Observations Flight under Uttar Bharat Area Headquarters at Bareilly.

The family members of the deceased soldier said the information they had gathered from the media and in person revealed that Major Thapa, on the fateful day, had successfully conducted a sortie and was returning to the aviation base when a technical snag developed in the chopper.

“He promptly brought the problem to the notice of the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) and tried desperately to rush back the chopper to the base,” said a relative of Major Thapa.

“At that time the chopper was flying above a densely populated village, Bhartaul. Major Thapa using his flying skills, presence of mind and patience, diverted the chopper away from the village towards an open place,” he added.

They said Major Thapa could not land the chopper at the open ground as a gathering of 400-500 people was going on there.

“Keeping their safety as a primary concern, he took the chopper towards the aviation base, switched off the engine and disconnected the fuel supply. While performing the exercise, Major Thapa could not get time to eject as the chopper was very close to the ground,” they said.

The family members said Major Thapa being a selfless soldier made the supreme sacrifice by taking a bold decision in the hour of crisis.

“His sacrifice should not go unnoticed and we want the state government to recognise his heroic act in the form of support to the family or an award,” said the family members.

Major Thapa is survived by his wife, parents and grandfather. 

Shimla, October 7
Governor Urmila Singh and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh have felicitated the people of the state on the occasion of Valmiki Jayanti.

The Governor said Maharishi Valmiki showed the path of truth and dedication to the people and inspired them to lead a truthful life.

The Chief Minister said Maharishi Valmiki had authored the holy epic “Ramayana” and inspired people to follow the path of truth and righteousness. The teachings of the Maharishi were relevant even today and everyone should follow the path shown by him, he added.

Solan, October 7
Teaching and non-teaching employees of LLR Institute here are battling stiff financial crisis as the management has failed to pay them salaries for the last three months despite collecting fee worth crores from students admitted in this academic session.

The Non-Teaching Employees Union (NTEU) alleged that despite trying to talk to the management, they have failed to come forward and address their genuine grievances failing which they have sent a complaint to the Labour Commissioner.

President, NTEU, Mohan Vashisht said the institute management had adopted an indifferent attitude towards their genuine grievances and despite being festival season; they were forced to live a hand-to-mouth existence in the absence of salaries for three months at a stretch.

The employees alleged that the institute was indulging in several irregularities which included non-compliance of minimum wages to its non-teaching staff and non-payment of double wages for overtime despite forcing them to work for more than 8 hours.

The employees also pointed out that the institute was deducting 25 per cent of their salary for provident fund (PF) which included an individual’s share as well as the institute’s share, but this amount had not been credited into the PF account since the past more than two years and a complaint had now been made to the PF Commissioner about this gross irregularity.

The employees alleged that several employees had been terminated from services and they demanded continuation of their services.

The management had also failed to register the employees with the Employee Station Insurance Corporation despite this being mandatory and this had bereft them of due medical aid.

The employees demanded immediate grant of salaries with an enhancement of 20 per cent, 22 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, to unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workforce.

They also demanded minimum holidays as per the state government norms and said the institute was exploiting the employees by failing to pay them the salaries in time.

The institute was registered as an educational trust and though it was not supposed to divert its funds for other purposes, the employees alleged that the money collected as fee was used for other purposes by the trust members and this had led to non-grant of salaries to them.

However, trust members, including Kailash Goyal and Pramod Garg, failed to respond despite repeated calls made to them.

Labour Commissioner Amit Kashyap said a complaint had been received from the employees and they had already directed the institute management to appear before him in the next few days.

He added that employees would be granted their due at the earliest.

Shimla, October 7
Agitating for rollback in fee hike, members of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising the SFI and the ABVP today met members of the High Power Committee constituted by the Chief Minister to take a holistic view of the fee structure and other related issues and apprised them of implications of the steep fee hike effected by the university.

The JAC members said the exorbitant fee hike by Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) on the analogy of Panjab University was irrational as the two universities did not match at all in infrastructure, faculty and other facilities.

Students also alleged that the funds received through NRI and non-subsidised seats had allegedly been misappropriated and the fee hike was necessitated as the university failed to get additional grant to meet huge liabilities created by revision of pay scales of teachers and non-teaching staff.

Meanwhile, the High Powered Committee would entertain suggestions from affected quarters till October 9 in the office of the committee at the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission, Majitha House Complex, Chhota Shimla.

Prof Mohan Jharta, Registrar, HPU, and secretary, High Powered Committee, has requested all the stakeholders and general public to adhere to this timeline. However, stakeholders and the public can also appear before the committee in person or through their representatives to supplement their views and suggestions, he said. 

Nurpur, October 7
The Dalit family of Sararpur village in Nurpur is likely to get some relief from the mental and financial agony caused by mysterious incidences of fire engulfing household articles. The local administration has swung into action after reading the plight of the hapless family in these columns.

The mysterious fire incidents have become a talk of the village nowadays.

Nurpur SDM Ashwani Sood today directed the kanungo of the Revenue Department to assess the loss suffered by the victim Parkash Chand. After receiving the report, Sood told The Tribune that the loss had been estimated to around Rs 20,000. As per the relief manual, the Nurpur tehsildar had been directed to release Rs 4,000 on Wednesday and to visit the house frequently to keep a close watch on the incidences of fire.

Shimla, October 7
Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) today declared the results of BEd, the examination of which was held in April.

Controller of Examination Prof Shyam Kaushal said 8,674 students, out of the 8,703 who had appeared in the examination, had passed. He said the results were available at the HPU site (www. hpuniv.in) and the detailed mark cards would be dispatched accordingly.

Candidates, declared fail, can apply for the compartment exam through the online examination form available on the website and attach the downloaded the mark-sheet card within 10 days.

HPU has decided to allow a special chance to students of Shastri I, II and III who were declared fail or had got compartment in session 2012-13 and 2013-14, along with a fee of Rs 300, to take supplementary examinations, he added.

Solan, October 7
DC Madan Chauhan today released an audio compact disc (CD), “Meri Khawaish”, sung by Himachali singer Om Prakash Chand Sharma. The CD contains devotional and Pahari songs.

Om Prakash, who also serves as a priest in the Hatkoti temple, has sung several songs eulogising goddesses and others, which throw light on the rich cultural heritage of the hills in this CD. — TNS

Mandi, October 7
The police have registered a case against Kuljeet of Nayara here for thrashing and restricting a government servant from discharging his duty.

In a complaint, Home Guard Hardyal Singh of Ghani under Karsog tehsil here said last evening when he was on traffic duty in Karsog Bazar near the bus stand, Kuljeet came there and beat him up and he sustained injuries.

He said Kuljeet also threatened him with dire consequences.

The Karsog police said a case under Sections 353, 332 and 506 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), had been registered against the accused and further investigation was on.

Hamirpur, October 7
The police have apprehended the robbers involved in the Rs 32-lakh bank robbery that took place on August 9 at the Nadaun branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) here.

The police had circulated the video footage of the robbers and were hunting for them since then. Police teams were sent to Shirdi, Jaipur and Bhopal in this regard. But they were finally nabbed from Karnal in Haryana.

It is being expected that this catch would expose the links of an inter-state gang of criminals operating in different states. It was a group of three boys in the 10-12 age group that had stolen the cash bag from the table in the SBI as the cash was meant for the ATM machine. It is also being suspected that a bank employee allegedly had links with the robbers.

Superintendent of Police Ajay Bodh said a police team had been rushed to Karnal to bring back the culprits. He hailed the efforts made by SSP, Karnal, Abhishek Garg who had swung into action the moment he was apprised of the crime. He said though the identity of the accused was yet to be ascertained, it was suspected that they were responsible for most of the thefts in the recent past.