Breakthrough in murder case
UNA, Sept 21 — The Una police has made a breakthrough in a case in which three persons were killed and two injured in a group clash on the night of September 10 in Malahat Nagar.

Sat Mahajan 'misled' electoral officer
DHARAMSALA, Sept 21 — The former Chief Minister and BJP candidate, Mr Shanta Kumar, has accused the Congress nominee, Mr Sat Mahajan, of making a false declaration, by getting his own name and that of his family registered in the electoral rolls at Nurpur and Pathankot at the same time.

People "unhappy" with HP, UP, govts
KANGRA, Sept 21 — A former HP Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Thakur Ram Lal, today described the Lok Sabha poll as a referendum on the performance of the Dhumal government in Himachal Pradesh and the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh.

• Lance Nk cremated with state honours
• Life term for murder
• Cop gets life term
• Vaman Dwadashi fair

Sonia misleading people: minister
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 21 — Mr Narinder Bragta, Horticulture Minister, has charged the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, with misleading people on the issue of import of apple under the open general licence (OGL) and asserted that the agreement in this regard was signed by the then Narasimha Rao government.

At a press conference here today, he also circulated documents which showed that the decision to bring 2700 items, including apple, under the OGL was taken in April, 1994. The then Congress government had also reduced the base rate for import duty on apple from the proposed 140 per cent in September, 1986, to 55 per cent in the final agreement.

The worst part, Mr Bragta said, was that the government surrendered its right to negotiate the bound rate of import duty to the USA and even agreed to the six-year period for bringing all these items under the OGL by the year 2002.

The minister said nothing could be more ridiculous than the party which was in power at the Centre and in the state during the negotiations and the signing of the WTO agreement, blaming the BJP-led government for the import of apple.

He said the then Congress regime failed to safeguard the interests of state's fruit growers.

He said now the Dhumal government was making all efforts to get apple deleted from the OGL list. The Chief Minister had already taken up the issue with the Prime Minister and the ministries concerned. In fact, the Union Agriculture Ministry had already recommended to the Commerce Ministry to increase import duty on apple to protect local growers.

Simultaneously, the government had decided to upgrade the apple production technology to enable the local growers to compete at the international level.

The state was exploring the possibility of collaborating with countries like the USA, New Zealand and Canada for the purpose. A team of experts from New Zealand was scheduled to visit the state on September 27 to discuss certain proposals with the Chief Minister.

The government also planned to set up fruit-based industry, particularly for manufacturing wines from apple and plum, he added.

Christ Church being renovated
From S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 21 — The historic Christ Church here is being renovated for the centenary celebrations of the jumbo-size pipe organ on September 28.

The inside of the church has been given a facelift by replacing the floor and painting wooden fixtures. The wooden benches, three of them bearing brass plates, an indication that they were once used by the Viceroy, the Governor and the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, are being polished.

The outer walls and the porch are also being repaired for the occasion.

The church will be rededicated on September 26 after the work is over.

The renovation work is being supervised by a pastorate committee consisting of Mr Claudius Dean, Mr Ambrose Izhaaq, Mr Wilson, Mr Udey Singh and Mr Bazel Dean, who is also the church organist.

According to Mr Bazel Dean, the pipe organ is one of the biggest in the country and was erected in September, 1899. Its tuning was completed on September 23, 1899, and the dedication and opening recital took place on September 28, 1899.

The beautiful "king of instruments" was built by Messers Morgan and Smith of Brighten (England) at a cost of Rs 23,000. It was extensively repaired in 1932.

The pipe organ consisting of more than a 1000 pipes can be heard playing with its majestic sound every Sunday during devotional services.

The 155-year-old church first had an organ which was erected in 1855. The major portion of it cost £ 250 and was subscribed by Lady Gomm wife of the Commander-in-Chief.

In 1875, the organ was replaced by a new instrument which in 1899 was sold to the Rawalpindi Church to make room for the present organ. The two most expensive stops were presented by Air Mackworth Young and Sir James Walker, while the cost of decorating the pipes was defrayed by the Countess of Elgin to commemorate the marriage of her daughter Lady Elizabeth Bruce with H. Babington Smith in the church on September 22, 1898.

The Christ Church is the most important landmark here and is photographed by tourists. Prior to 1836, the town did not have a regular chaplin. The corner stone of the church was laid in September, 1844.

There are five stained glass windows in the church. The one representing faith, hope, charity, fortitude and humility is in the memory of Lizze Marian, wife of Sir James Walker, who died at London on November 22, 1892. The other one is in memory of Sir Henry Godwin who commanded the expedition to the Rangoon river in 1852 which resulted in the annexation of Lower Burma.

Trout rearing draws crowds
From Balkrishan Prashar

BHANDAL (Chamba): A trout rearing unit here in Salooni tehsil of Chamba district has nowadays become a centre of attraction for tourists. At least two dozen tourists and other visitors daily visit this unit.

Located on the right bank of Siul rivulet in a picturesque and exquisite setting of woody hillsides, the Bhandal trout rearing unit was set up in 1979 but came into operation in 1984. There are only two such trout rearing units in Himachal Pradesh — one is at Nagui in Kulu district and the other at Bhandal. There are otherwise fish farms at Patlikuhal (Kulu district), Barot (Mandi district) and Sangla (Kinnaur district). All these are trout fish farms.

The trout rearing unit has 344 trout booders, 246 fry and fingerlings and 433 trout fishes being reared here. This includes rainbow and brown varieties. The mirron carp variety is also reared at this unit.

This unit remained neglected earlier. But things improved in 1996. Nearly 4,000 trout fishes have been marketed during the past four years.

A processing plant for a trout hatchery at this unit is under construction at a cost of about Rs 4 lakh. But sadly the work is being done in piecemeal. There are only two employees, including an in charge and a field assistant, against a sanctioned strength of five employees. The posts of fisherman, chowkidar and sweeper are still vacant.

According to Mr P.C. Sharma, sub-inspector (fisheries) and in charge of this unit, training about the rearing of trout is imparted to farmers of the area. They are trained in rearing trout, hatching process. After training many have started their own fish ponds on commercial basis. But there is still lack of awareness among the local residents.

The main problem which the tourists are facing to visit this unit is the absence of a bridge across the rivulet Siul. There is only a stair-like wooden bridge which is frequently washed away with the rise in water level of Siul even during a small spell of rain. There is need of a concrete bridge to link this unit with the roadhead. But a proposal drawn for the construction of this bridge some years ago seems to a non-starter. Consequently there is great resentment among people.

Virbhadra ‘delayed’ Chamera-II project
From Our Correspondent

PALAMPUR, Sept 21 — Former Himachal Chief Minister Shanta Kumar has accused Mr Virbhadra Singh of deliberately delaying Chamera-II project launch for the past 17 years putting an additional burden on the state on account of cost of escalation and loss of an accumulated income of Rs 480 crore which would have accrued in the shape of 12 per cent free power.

Mr Shanta Kumar in a statement here today said when the project was to be launched in 1982 its cost was just Rs 400 crore and when its construction commenced in 1999 it rose to 1266 crore.

Mr Shanta Kumar claimed that after negotiations following global tenders the Virbhadra government had settled to award the construction to a private company for Rs 2700 crore but the Vajpayee government granted it for just Rs 1266 crore thus saving Rs 1434 crore with which another project like Chamera-II could be completed. The project will provide ample employment opportunities to the local youth, he claimed.

Refuting the Congress allegation of not safeguarding interests of the state while awarding the contract for Chamera-II, Shanta Kumar alleged that 95 per cent of contractors engaged in Chamera-I were Congress leaders and workers.

BJP trying to 'defame' Mahajan
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Sept 21 — The Congress today said the allegation levelled by the BJP against Mr Sat Mahajan, that he had his name in the electoral rolls both in Pathankot and Nurpur, was a conspiracy to defame him.

Talking to newspersons here today, the official spokesperson of the party, Mr Rajan Deewan, said seeing the overwhelming response that Mr Mahajan, was getting, the BJP had become nervous and was now resorting to these tactics to mislead the people.

He said Mr Mahajan was not aware of the fact that his name was in the electoral rolls both in Pathankot and Nurpur, and had always cast his vote in Nurpur.

Breakthrough in murder case
From Our Correspondent

UNA, Sept 21 — The Una police has made a breakthrough in a case in which three persons were killed and two injured in a group clash on the night of September 10 in Malahat Nagar.

Mr D.P. Sharma, SP, told newspersons here today that a group led by Amrish Rana, Gurjant Singh, Ashok and a few others attacked a Maruti car which was carrying Raj Kumar, Santosh Singh, Rajiv Sharma and some other persons.

While Rajiv Sharma, who was seriously injured died at night, Raj Kumar and Santosh Singh succumbed to their injuries later.

The SP said the police had arrested three persons, Subdarshan Rani, Savita and Sheetal, daughters of Rajinder Kumar in this connection.

One more person had been arrested in this regard, he said.

Lance Nk cremated with state honours
From Our Correspondent

NURPUR, Sept 21 — The mortal remains of Lance Naik Balwant Singh (35) of C-26 Battalion of the CRPF were consigned to flames with full state honours at his native village, Charor, yesterday.

He was killed in a bomb blast in Palamu district of Bihar on September 18 while on election duty.

His son, Deepak (11), lit the funeral pyre.

Mr Des Raj, Chairman, HP Finance Commission and local MLA, and Mr N,K Lath, SDM, Nurpur, laid wreaths on the body on behalf of the Governor and the Chief Minister. The deceased is survived by his wife Asha Rani, two sons and a daughter.

Life term for murder
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, Sept 21 — The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr P.S. Rana, yesterday sentenced Avtar Singh, a resident of Tekkri village under Nalagarh police station to life imprisonment and fined him Rs 7000 for murdering his wife, Manjit Kaur, on May 26, 1998.

The judge also sentenced Avtar Singh to undergo simple imprisonment for seven years and fined him Rs 3,000 under Section 325 of the IPC. Both sentences would run concurrently.

Cop gets life term
From Our Correspondent

SUNDERNAGAR, Sept 21 — The Additional Sessions Judge, Mandi Division, has convicted Satya Parkash of Chopal tehsil in Shimla district, who was a constable serving the 3rd Battalion at Pandoh, and sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000.

On June 24, 1998, the convict, who was carrying an AK-47 rifle, had gone to a shop owned by Karamvir at Pandoh where he opened fire, injuring Karamvir and killing one Hem Raj on the spot.

Sat Mahajan 'misled' electoral officer
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Sept 21 — The former Chief Minister and BJP candidate, Mr Shanta Kumar, has accused the Congress nominee, Mr Sat Mahajan, of making a false declaration, by getting his own name and that of his family registered in the electoral rolls at Nurpur and Pathankot at the same time.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said Mr Mahajan concealed facts and misled the electoral officer intentionally. It was shocking that Mr Mahajan had done all this in such a discreet manner as to confuse the authorities and give the impression that the matter related to two different people and their families, he said adding that Mr Mahajan had violated various provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1950, as well as the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

Mr Shanta Kumar said a complaint had already been faxed to the Election Commission in this regard. He also demanded that the entire record of Nurpur and Pathankot segments be sealed.

People "unhappy" with HP, UP, govts
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, Sept 21 — A former HP Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Thakur Ram Lal, today described the Lok Sabha poll as a referendum on the performance of the Dhumal government in Himachal Pradesh and the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said people were unhappy with both UP and HP governments for their dismal performance. He said the Nehru family had an impact on UP and HP politics and Ms Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka had turned the tide in favour of the Congress. He said Congress candidate Sat Mahajan and Gangu Ram Musafir were sure to win.

He said besides stability, local issues were dominating the current poll.

Vaman Dwadashi fair
From Our Correspondent

NAHAN, Sept 21 — The Vaman Dwadashi fair will be held at Pucca Tank here tomorrow on the occasion of Vaman Dwadashi.

The palanquin of Lord Vaman (the incarnation of Lord Vishnu) will be brought from the 400-year-old Jagganath temple here so that people can pay their obeisance. After the prayers, a religious ‘shobha yatra’ will proceed through the main market of the town to the ground where the fair is organised.