Plea to check soil erosion
SOLAN, June 25 — The Vice-Chancellor of Parmar University, Dr D.P. Awasthi, today called for blending traditional knowledge with modern technology for dealing with the problem of soil erosion and water scarcity which of late had assumed alarming proportions.

1 killed, 20 hurt in clash
SHIMLA, June 25 — One person was killed and over 20 injured when the private security personnel of a construction company fired on an "unruly" mob of workers at the Nathpa-Jhakri power project complex today.

HP to invite global tenders for 7 projects
SHIMLA, June 25 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to invite global tenders for constructing seven medium-scale hydroelectric projects to generate 346 mw of electricity.

Calcutta group wins drama contest
SHIMLA, June 25 — Sparsh, a theatre group from Calcutta won G.C. Lagan Award for the best play with its Hindi play "Sandhya Chaya" and Punya Darshan Gupta and Maya Bhatacharya of the group won the Best Actor-Director and Best Actress awards, respectively, at the five-day 32nd annual All-India Drama Competition, which concluded here today at Kalibari hall.

Dhumal flays Cong for exploiting reservation issue
JAWALAMUKHI, June 25 — Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, reiterated that the state government was committed to keep its poll promises.

• 3 dead, 1 missing as bus falls into Ravi
• Rifleman, Lance Naik cremated
• Two occupants of truck killed
• Shoolini fair begins

Incentives for staff in remote areas
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 25 — Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Himachal Chief Minister, addressing a public meeting at Udaipur in Lahaul valley on Thursday said that keeping in view the local demand, the Tehsildar, Keylong, would sit at Udaipur for a week in a month for the convenience of the people. He said that ayurvedic hospital would be opened at Chokhang in Lahaul valley besides veterinary dispensary would be opened at Golma.

The Himachal government will suitably reward the officers and employees for implementing developmental schemes in the cold desert of Spiti in a time-bound manner and achieving the targets within the allocated budget.

This was announced by Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, while presiding over a meeting of district officers to review the progress of different departments in Spiti at Kaza yesterday.

He said that all vacant posts in tribal areas would be filled under subcadre plan soon and persons recruited under this plan would have to serve in tribal areas for a period of five years.

The Chief Minister said that work in Spiti valley should be target-oriented and schemes should be planned in consultation with those who were executing it.

Earlier, Mr Ram Lal Markanda, Minister of State for Rural Development, detailed works being carried out in Spiti valley.

Mr Dhumal also asked the officers engaged in the execution on Lingti mini hydro-electric project to complete the scheme in a time-bound manner.

He also inspected 400 kw project near Kaza being constructed at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore to improve the power supply of Spiti valley.

The project, being executed by

Himurja will be completed by December this year. A unique feature of the project is that it is based on rubber dam technology.

The project is on Lingti stream, a major tributary of the Spiti river.

Earlier addressing a public meeting at Kaza he said that every high school in the state would get semifurnished accommodation under Yashwant Gurukul Yojna and three rooms would be provided under Sarswati Bal Sankalap Yojna in every primary school referring to local demands, the Chief Minister said that Silla Nallah Khul work would be completed this year and 30 km patch of Kaza-Lossar road would be metalled soon, he said that Rangrik water supply scheme would be completed this year and Sangam bridge would also be completed later in the year.

The Chief Minister announced upgradation of government primary school at Taling to middle school and said middle school, Dankar would be upgraded to high school for the convenience of local people.

He assured liberal financial assistance for organising Kalchakra 2000 festival at Kaza.

Employees’ bodies merge
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, June 25 — With the merger of the HP Employees Confederation with the HP Employees Federation here today, the employees set a deadline of October 10 for the government to invite them for talks, failing which they would launch an agitation.
Announcing the merger at a press conference here today, Mr Subhash Sharma said that there was great resentment amongst the employees that the government was not fulfilling the promises made to them. They alleged that some of the bureaucrats, owing allegiance to the previous Congress government, were trying to create a rift between the government and the employees. They said that the employees bodies were in favour of having a tension-free atmosphere and did not want a confrontation with the government.

The employees bodies demanded that the government should immediately give enhanced house rent, bonus, medical allowance and capital allowance to the Himachal employees at par with Punjab. On this occasion the bodies passed a resolution that there should be a blanket ban of transfers and policy should be framed in this regard.

They demanded that all vacant posts in various departments should be fulfilled immediately, especially in border areas, so that the threat from the militants can be met. "While the government is opening new offices, but the vacancies in regard to the supporting staff are not being fulfilled," regretted Mr Subhash Sharma.

Probe into bank recruitment scandal sought
From Our Correspondent

PALAMPUR, June 25 — The recent decision of Kangra Central Cooperative Bank, a subsidiary of the state government, to appoint over 150 clerks has caused widespread controversy in the state and the management of the bank is under fire. Number of political parties and other organisations of the state have alleged that the bank had committed gross irregularities in the selection of candidates.

Allegedly the test conducted by the bank was only an eyewash, as selection of the candidates had been finalised already. Despite the fact that the bank is a government undertaking, the management did not let the state public service commission to fill up the vacant posts resulting in controversy over the appointments.

The enquiries reveal that most of the candidates who had qualified the written test were either relatives of BJP politicians, bank officials and wives of senior government officials.

The bank had advertised over 150 post of clerks to be recruited in the different branches of the bank in the state in November last. The bank received over 75,000 applications for the posts and over 48,000 candidates appeared for the written test. According to reports out of the 48,000 candidates over 2,000 candidates were Ph.D., 9000 candidates were post graduates and majority of the candidates were graduates. The bank had prescribed matriculation as its minimum qualification for the posts. Whereas under the banking recruitment rules the minimum qualification for the post of a clerk in the banks is graduation. But the KCCB authorities bypassed the guidelines of banking recruitment board.

The result of the test has caused widespread resentment among the unemployed youth here as no rules and regulations were followed in the selection of candidates. A number of Matriculate candidates had qualified the test, whereas those having Ph.D., post graduation and graduation degrees were not among the selected candidates.

It is interesting to note that a relative of a KCC bank officer, who had failed in the matriculation examination, had qualified the written test of the bank.

The Managing Director of the bank, Mr R.S. Gupta, however is tightlipped about the scandal.

Meanwhile, Mr Sat Mahajan, HP PCC president, Mr Brij Butail, G.S. Bali, Chander Kumar all Congress MLAs and Sudhir Sharma, General Secretary of the HP Youth Congress have demanded a CBI probe into this recruitment scandal of Kangra Central Cooperative Bank. In a joint statement they urged the state Governor, Ms V.S. Rama Devi, to personally look into the matter and order a probe immediately.

Hero's welcome awaits jawans
From M.C. Thakur

MANALI: A heroic and warm reception awaits convoys of brave Indian soldiers on their way to fight the enemy in the Kargil, Dras and Batalik sectors.

Palchan village, 9 km from Manali on the Manali-Leh highway, witnesses feverish activity as people from all walks of life assemble in hundreds every day as early as 5 a.m., carrying the National Flag and shouting slogans like ‘Bharat mata ki jai; "desh ke veer jawanon aage badho hum tumhare sath hain."

Various non-government organisations like the Beopar Mandal, Manali, Mahila Mandals, Rotary Club, panchayat organisations, schoolchildren and public at large collect money and buy woollen garments, packed lunch, juices and medicines and rush to Palchan. The local Manali Luxury Coach Association, the Taxi Operators Union, Manali, and the Autorickshaw union are providing free service to hundreds of enthusiastic local people every day to reach Palchan village.

Army convoys coming from Pathankot halt overnight at the Palchan Army transit camp. At 6 a.m. in the morning, Army convoys start their journey en route to Leh. Local people welcome these brave sons of the nation and distribute woollen socks, sweaters, jackets, scarfs, packed lunch, juices and medicines among them. As the convoy starts, men, women and children who make a long human chain shower floral petals known as "shesh" collected from the Hadimba temple.

A large number of banners from Bhuntar to Palchan on the Kulu-Manali road containing bravery slogans and good wishes to the Army add to the morale of soldiers.

The 475 km Manali-Leh highway which winds its way through the Rohtang Pass (3980 M), the Baralacha Pass (4883M), the Lachlang La ((5065 M), Tanglang La (5328 M) has been witnessing heavy movement of army vehicles every day with hundreds of soldiers eager to reach the Kargil, Dras and Batalik sectors.

The early opening of the Manali-Leh highway made it possible to carry food, arms and ammunition for the Indian troops in Kargil.

Plea to check soil erosion
Tribune News Service

SOLAN, June 25 — The Vice-Chancellor of Parmar University, Dr D.P. Awasthi, today called for blending traditional knowledge with modern technology for dealing with the problem of soil erosion and water scarcity which of late had assumed alarming proportions.

Dr Awasthi, who was delivering the presidential address at a FAO sponsored national workshop on indigenous knowledge and traditions in watershed management here, said that the soil loss was reported to be as high as 32.11 tonnes per hectare per year from cultivated land three to five tonnes per hectare from forest lands in the hilly areas.

Such serious depletion of soil was causing gradual diminishing of discharge of water from springs and natural wells. Unless remedial measures were initiated immediately, the net availability of water and consequently, production of crops could receive serious setback soon.

The Vice-Chancellor advocated the evolution of watershed management technologies based upon traditional wisdom and practices with suitable updating by incorporating recent scientific advances in the field. Peoples participation and low-cost schemes which could be readily adopted by the poor farmers were the other requisites for attaining the desired targets in watershed management.

The coordinator of the workshop, Dr I.P. Sharma, said Parmar University had been serving as a focal point for the FAO-sponsored watershed management technology centre in India. Similar programmes were being run in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Dr R.K. Jindal, Director of research of the university, said that the crop production from irrigated areas, which represented only 30 per cent of the total land area, was 56 per cent. This showed that there was a tremendous scope for improvement in farm technologies for unirrigated areas.

1 killed, 20 hurt in clash
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 25 — One person was killed and over 20 injured when the private security personnel of a construction company fired on an "unruly" mob of workers at the Nathpa-Jhakri power project complex today.

Reports said security personnel resorted to firing in the Maglar area of Jhakri when the striking labourers turned violent and pelted the police and other staff with stones.

Dev Datt Bhat reportedly died on the spot when he was hit by pellets of the gun. Five others with pellet injuries, Devinder, Bihari Lal, Sachdanand and Lokpal were wounded.

Reports said at least four policemen were injured when the violent mob pelted them with stones. The SHO of the Jhakri police station, Mr Chander Mani, received injuries on his head.

The seriously injured persons have been shifted to the hospital at Rampur, while others were receiving treatment at Jhakri.

No senior officer of the Shimla district administration was available for further details. Other officials were hesitant to give the details, when contacted on telephone.

An official claimed that the security personnel resorted to firing in retaliation when an irate mob started pelting stones on a bus, which was carrying engineers to the work site.

The labourers of a contractor company of the project have been on strike for the past over a month in support of their demands. Efforts of the authorities to defuse the situation have so far proved futile.

A labour leader, Mr Rakesh Singha, claimed that the private security personnel fired on labourers, who were peacefully demonstrating today.

He alleged that the state government was trying to crush the peaceful agitation of the workers.

HP to invite global tenders for
7 projects
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 25 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to invite global tenders for constructing seven medium-scale hydroelectric projects to generate 346 mw of electricity.

According to Mr Ravinder Ravi, Minister of State for Power, these projects are Keshang (70 mw), Chirgaon — Majhgaon (46 mw), Tangnoo — Romai (44 mw), Podital Lasa (36 mw), Bharmaur (45 mw), Harsar (60 mw) and Kugti (45 mw).

Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, addressing a public meeting at Killar in Chamba district today, said besides mini projects, big projects were also being taken up for which MoUs had already been signed.

He said solar cookers would be provided in the Pangi valley on a priority basis till a gas agency was opened there.

Calcutta group wins drama contest
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 25 — Sparsh, a theatre group from Calcutta won G.C. Lagan Award for the best play with its Hindi play "Sandhya Chaya" and Punya Darshan Gupta and Maya Bhatacharya of the group won the Best Actor-Director and Best Actress awards, respectively, at the five-day 32nd annual All-India Drama Competition, which concluded here today at Kalibari hall.

The competition was organised by the All-India Artists Association in collaboration with the HP Language and Culture Department. Meghdoot Theatre Group, Gurgaon (Haryana), and Navchetan Jamshedpur (Bihar), bagged the second and third awards with their plays "Kumar Swami" and "Parivartan" respectively.

In the category of Comedy plays, "Rejected Maharaja" presented by the MP Electricity Board, Jabalpur and "Chamatkar" by Nutan Sanskar Kendra, Baroda (Gujarat), got the first and second position respectively.

Deep Shikha Manch, Datia (MP) and Sambalpur Kala Kendra, Sambalpur (Orissa), got the first and second awards in respectively in the musical play category with their plays "Sundriya" and "Sar Mangla".

The best comedy actor and actress award were bagged by Vijay Mishra Amit of Jabalpur and Kruti Bhatt of Baroda respectively. Over 500 artists from all over the country participated in the competition.

Shoolini fair begins
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, June 25 — The Centuries-old Solan mela rechristened as Shoolini fair some years back began with a "shobha yatra" of Goddess Shoolini, reigning deity of the town, by her devotees here today.

The organisers earlier cancelled all entertainment programmes like pop music shows, after local groups, mainly the District Congress Committee, pointed at the need for showing respect to scores of soldiers who sacrificed their lives at the Kargil front.

The three-day fair will be confined to a pet show, a baby show, and exhibition of handicrafts and a wrestling contest.

Mr Hari Narain Singh, Minister of State for Town and Country Planning, who inaugurated the handicrafts exhibition, was the chief guest today.

Rifleman, Lance Naik cremated
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, June 25 — The bodies of Rifleman Ashok Kumar and Lance Naik Vir Singh of the 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, were cremated with full military honours at their native villages near Jwali, today.

Both the soldiers were killed while trying to win back Point 5140, at Tololing in Dras sector, on the Indo-Pak border; on June 20.

Ashok Kumar's brother, Vijay Kumar, lit the funeral pyre. The Revenue Minister, Mr Rajan Sushant, and senior Army officers were present on the funeral to pay their last respect to the martyr.

The cremation of Lance Naik Vir Singh, took place at his native village Baldoa. Wreaths were placed on the body by senior Army officers on behalf of the President of India and the Chief of Army Staff. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr B.K. Aggarwal, placed a wreath on the body on behalf of the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal.

Dhumal flays Cong for exploiting reservation issue
From Our Correspondent

JAWALAMUKHI, June 25 — Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, reiterated that the state government was committed to keep its poll promises.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Dhumal said most of the poll promises had been fulfilled and the rest would be implemented soon. He said the BJP had never opposed the implementation of Mandal Commission report and the Supreme Court's directive pertaining to the commission's report would be implemented very soon. Mr Dhumal said though the Congress had ruled the country for 45 years yet it had done little for the benefit of the masses and criticised the party and its leaders for overlooking the issue of 27 per cent reservations for OBCs while they were in power in the state.

He said the Congress Chief, Mr Sat Mahajan was befooling the masses by voicing "extra concern" for the OBCs.

Criticising the Congress, the Chief Minister said "regionalism" was no election issue in Himachal Pradesh as there had been equal development in the upper and lower areas in the state in the past one year. He said uniform and balanced development had been a hallmark of BJP's policies.

3 dead, 1 missing as bus falls into Ravi
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, June 25 — Three persons were injured when a private bus (HP-47-0984) veered off the road and rolled down into the Ravi near Sitla bridge in Chamba today. The bus driver is missing.

According to an official spokesman, the injured have been admitted to the district hospital.

The local authorities have rushed to the accident site to carry out rescue and relief operations. The police has registered a case.

Two occupants of truck killed
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, June 25 — Two persons were killed and seven seriously injured when a truck (HP-33-1625) carrying 22 persons was involved in an accident at Kalkhar 28 km from here, on the Mandi Rewalsar road.

All injured persons were admitted to the local Regional Hospital.

One of the killed has been identified as Sohan Lal.

Mr Chaman Singh, SDM, who rushed to the accident site, said the next of the kin of the victims would be given an ex gratia grant according to the relief manual.

An inquiry has been ordered.