Shimla, October 9
Wing Commander Vikram Singh Chauhan, hailing from Shimla district, was conferred Shaurya Chakra by Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha on Air Force Day in Ghaziabad on Wednesday.

The Wing Commander was honoured for his exceptional courage and presence of mind in the face of potentially catastrophic and life threatening situation during a recent exercise of the Indian Air Force in the Pokhran range of Rajasthan.

Vikram Singh Chauhan, a student of Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, cleared his NDA examination and joined the Air Force. His father BS Chauhan is a retired Indian Administrative Services officer and mother Meenu Chauhan is a teacher with Bishop Cotton School.

The proud parents said that since childhood Vikram Chauhan had been inclined towards defence services. The relatives of the Wing Commander were also in the ecstatic mood. 

Shimla, October 9
Nine-time winner of Raid De Himalaya Suresh Rana today crashed out of the 16th Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya during the fifth leg, as he could not negotiate a sharp turn at high speed on the way to Nakee La, a mountain pass at a height of 4,750 metres.

Another top rallyist Abhishek Mishra met the same fate. Both vehicles went off road and landed at a lower patch. Rana was driving for Team Maruti and Mishra for Team Thunderbolt. No rallyist was injured in the mishap.

Natraj R of Bangalore, leading in Raid Xtreme (motorcycles), narrowly escaped sliding down the same turn, and somehow manoeuvred it. After the misjudgement by the two top rallyists, a raid marshal was stationed at the turn and Xtreme competitors were told to take the turn safely.

Vice-president (marketing), Maruti Suzuki, Manohar Bhat said at the end of the third day, Rana was seven minutes ahead of Mishra, and 20 minutes ahead of Capt AVS Gill of Team Army.

After the unfortunate crash of Rana and Mishra, now there are seven competitors, including Capt AVS Gill, Harpreet Singh Bawa, Amartej Buwal, Lt Col Shakti Bajaj, Gaurav Angra, Raj Singh Rathore and Karan Jung within a nine-minute gap, all running close to each other.

It was a bad day for Bollywood as well as Sohail Khan, who took a wrong turn on the competitive stage towards Baralacha La, the mountain pass that connects Lahaul and Ladakh, missed one check-point and lost valuable time.

Raid Xtreme, which had been suspended on Day four due to heavy snow at Kunzum La, took off from Sarchu today for Nakee La.

The three competitive stages from Sarchu to Nakee La, Debring to Daat and back from Daat to Debring were held as per the schedule today.

Raid Adventure too had a normal run today from Keylong to Baralacha La, forward to Nakee La, and back to Keylong after taking a U-turn at Sarchu. The results were not complied till the filing of the report.

Solan, October 9
With several eco-tourism projects running in the state failing to get registered with the Industries Department for availing Central investment subsidy, their claim for getting the monetary benefit has failed to be sanctioned by the state level committee (SLC) constituted to clear such cases.

A copy of the minutes of the SLC meeting, available with The Tribune, revealed that claims of several eco-tourism projects in the state had been rejected as they had failed to get themselves registered with the Industries Department before setting up these ventures, a mandatory norm of the Central Government scheme.

Several hotels which fell in this category, such as Satyam, Cosmos, Mahesh, Shimla Heavens, Mashobra Greens, Himalaya, Atul Regency and Ras Resorts in Shimla; River Bank, Shandela, Day and Night, Harmony and Apple Orchard in Kullu; Paonta Valley in Paonta Sahib; Sangrila, Ashoka, Prakash Regency, Mehak Resort and Destination in Kinnaur; Sunshine, Felcon Crest, Parkwood and Oak Woods in Solan; Sangam in Mandi; Ashiana Regency and Swiss in Chamba; Himalayan in Kangra and Prem in Sirmaur, were among those whose cases have not been sanctioned by the SLC.

The fact that all these cases had failed to be sanctioned merely because they had not got registration with the Industries Department at an appropriate time lent credence to the fact that the officials had failed to profess the details of this Centrally-sponsored scheme to entrepreneurs at the right time.

Though officials of the department said the new norm had been introduced last year and the eco-tourism units had by that time already initiated their initial operations, it was worth mentioning that industrial units seeking the subsidy had successfully managed to claim benefits of the scheme. This not only exposed the communication gap between the Tourism Department and the Industries Department but also the half-hearted approach with which the entrepreneurs are being guided to set up their units in the state.

Figures procured from the Industries Department revealed that as many as 70 cases, involving subsidy of Rs 12 crore, were pending as investors failed to fulfill this formality.

This subsidy is available at the rate of 15 per cent for tourism projects on investments made in building, plant and machinery with the maximum ceiling of Rs 50 lakh for new units and Rs 30 lakh for old units which undertake substantive expansion.

Though the scheme lapsed in March 2013, it was again extended in February till March 2017 and the Union Government had directed all units, which have come into operations in this intervening period, to file their claims till September. 

Shimla, October 9
Welcoming the Punjab and Haryana High Court decision to disqualify five Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) MLAs who defected to Congress after the last Assembly polls in Haryana, former Chief Minister PK Dhumal today said the decision will have a bearing on the membership of four independent MLAs in Himachal, who have become associate members of the Congress.

He said the decision would have far-reaching effects as in future, the MLAs would not be able to cheat voters and defect to other parties to form a government.

“Had the decision come earlier, the Hooda government in Haryana would have not been able to complete its five-year term,” he said.

Dhumal said in a similar case, the Himachal BJP had on September 2 urged speaker BBL Butail to disqualify the four Independent MLAs from the membership of the state Assembly under Anti-Defection Act as they had become associate members of the Congress and said the party was optimistic and waiting for the speaker’s decision.

In a petition, the BJP had said that four Independent MLAs, including Manohar Dhiman (Indora), Pawan Kajal (Kangra), Kirnesh Jang (Paonta Sahib)and Balbir Singh Verma (Chopal) have betrayed the trust of the people and attract disqualification under Schedule 10 of the Constitution and therefore their membership should be cancelled.

The BJP leaders had stated that Independent MLAs could lend support from outside only and cannot share the platform of a political party or participate in its political activities. But these MLAs had issued statement in favour of the Chief Minister and mentioned themselves on record as associate members of the Congress during the last Assembly session, they said.

Mandi, October 9
The management of the Himachal Pradesh Gramin Bank has issued show-cause notices to the employees who have been on a relay fast for the past nearly a month.

Gramin bank employees sit on a fast in Mandi on Thursday. Photo: Jai Kumar

Bank Chairman SK Chawla said the protest was irrelevant and disciplinary action would be initiated against the employees.

The relay fast of members of the Himachal Pradesh Gramin Bank Karamchari Sangh and the Himachal Pradesh Gramin Bank Officers Organisation today entered 30th day.

The Chairman said the management had a meeting with members of the two unions here on September 27 and had a threadbare discussion on their all 18 demands.

He said they had agreed to settle seven demands which were in their purview and take up the other demands with the sponsor bank, Punjab National Bank, but representatives of the unions did not agree.

The main demands of the unions include probe in cases of corruption, recovery of cash incentive and Income Tax wrongly paid by showing excess profit, recruitment and promotions, absorption of sweepers against the vacant posts of office attendant, increment on a par with Punjab National Bank in light of 100 per cent computerisation and other allowances/benefits on a par with PNB and biased transfer of officers of the organisation.

“We have put the new transfer policy in abeyance after the unions objected to it,” he said, adding that they were open to discuss any issue with the unions for the betterment of the bank.

On the issues of corruption, he said they were ready to get the probe done by any outside agency.

On absorption of sweepers against vacant posts, he said the management had agreed to abide by the terms of settlement arrived at between the management and the two unions earlier.

On the other hand, organisation vice-president DC Sharma said none of their demands were accepted at the meeting and they had decided to continue their agitation. He said if their demands were not accepted, they would hold a statewide strike on October 20 and then resort to indefinite fast from November 24.

Palampur, October 9
Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, C Pal Rasu, in a notification issued here yesterday declared the national highway passing through Paprola town as no parking zone.

As per the notification, parking of vehicles along the highway from IOC Petrol Pump to railway road has been banned. Talking to mediapersons at Baijnath today, Puneet Raghu, DSP, Baijnath, said the step was necessary following regular traffic jams on the highway because of parking of vehicles particularly at Paprola town market which caused inconvenience to tourists and vehicles en route Kulu, Manali, Shimla and Mandi.

Raghu said residents of the town were duly apprised by the police as the notification issued by the District Magistrate had come into force with immediate effect.

He said the narrow Pathankot–Mandi national highway passing through Baijnath and Paprola had become a major traffic zone.

The state government was well conversant with the situation and the Deputy Commissioner invoked the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act and banned the parking of vehicles on the highway.

Kishori Lal, MLA, Baijnath, said the Government of India had already sanctioned a bye pass for the town and funds for the acquisition of the land had also been released.

Nurpur, October 9
The Himachal Pradesh Government and the state Education Department are trying to impart quality education and improve education standard in government schools. But, a few government senior secondary schools in Kangra district have adopted an unethical approach to declare failed students pass under the pretext of granting grace marks up to 7 per cent contrary to the permission of only 1 per cent by the Education Department.

Gulab Thakur, an RTI activist, has procured documentary information under the Right to Information Act from the information officer-cum-deputy director, Higher Education, Dharamsala, Des Raj Sharma, in which Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Gangath (Nurpur), had reportedly violated the grace marks limit in annual examination of class XI conducted in March this year in order to improve the school’s annual result.

The RTI activist gave copies of the documentary information to mediapersons here today. The information clearly showed violation of set limit of grace marks for class XI.

Thakur gathered information in this connection from a few surrounding schools that had granted 1 per cent grace marks. But, in GSSS, Gangath, the science and commerce streams students had been granted 3 per cent grace marks each and arts students were given 7 per cent grace marks.

The school management claimed that the criterion had been adopted in the welfare of maximum students.

According to the gathered information, after granting grace marks the annual result of the class XI has been improved from 44.04 per cent to 83.33 per cent for science stream, 28 per cent to 81.33 per cent for commerce stream and 24.50 per cent to 88.32 per cent for arts stream, which reflected the modus operandi adopted by the school management for improving results.

Local educationists Ramesh Sharma and SS Guleria have asserted that the practice of increasing the limit of one per cent would deteriorate the quality of education in government schools.

They underlined the need to restore the previous pattern of conducting annual examination for class XI by the state board of school education. 

Solan, October 9
The authorities here have failed to curb the practice of allowing the sale of apples from tents pitched on both sides of the national highway-22 near the sabzi mandi on the Kather bypass and apple-laden trucks can also be seen parked on both sides.

This creates traffic snarls every day, especially during the apple season.

Since the apple season is in full swing, scores of trucks enter Solan from various parts of the state every day and traders sell their produce here.

With no space available inside the sabzi mandi complex, traders line up along the highway by pitching their tents on both sides to sell their produce.

This impedes the smooth flow of traffic as the highway already faces huge traffic jams during summers owing to tourists’ rush to the state and also due to the movement of trucks to Chandigarh, Delhi and other parts of the country during the apple season.

The sale of apples outside the mandi, while denying the state government 1 per cent marketing fee, is also encouraging illegal trading of apples through arhtiyas, who have been given licences to operate in the sabzi mandi.

Despite the HP State Agriculture Marketing Board managing director having taken up the issue of putting an end to this illegal sale of apples from the road, the practice remains unchecked.

Board’s MD Dr Parminder Baweja said he had written to the chief engineer, National Highways, Deputy Commissioner as well as the SP Solan to put an end to this practice. He said besides causing loss of revenue to the state government it could lead to mishaps, adding that despite assurances nothing had been done to check the trend.

He said: “The Board does not encourage such sale of apples from roadsides as it can endanger human lives. Little is being done to check this practice. The Board officials carried out a raid recently and unearthed such an illegal practice.”

He said the Board was coming up with a modern marketing complex at Parwanoo, where the foundation stone of a Rs 80 crore project had been laid. This would ensure that traders who could not sell their produce in Solan could go to Parwanoo. He said this was being set up on a public private partnership mode with the Board contributing 33 per cent share and cost of land, while a body of the agrarian community would be the other shareholder. This would ensure that the state reaped the benefits of marketing the agricultural and horticultural produce which was presently being grabbed by renowned firms from other states. 

Bharmour, October 9
Residents of Khundel and Baloth tribal panchayats in Chamba district have demanded that the government link far-flung areas of their panchayats with the Chamba-Bharmour highway.

They said long tracts of these tribal areas were quite hilly and arduous. People have to walk long distances to bring their daily-use commodities and other materials from roadside shops, making their lives difficult.

They even have to carry patients on their back to the main road in case they want to visit the hospital. 

Shimla, October 9
Farmers of Lahaul-Spiti, world-famous for their disease-free seed potatoes, are all cheers this year as they are getting Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 a 50-kg bag at farm gate from buyers converging there from different parts of Punjab, Gujarat and West Bengal.

The harvesting of potatoes under way in Lahaul. A Tribune photograph

The harvesting of potatoes is at its peak in the upper Chandra and Tod valleys, while farmers in the lower Pattan valley have already reaped a rich harvest as the demand for Lahaul’s seed potatoes have rocketed this time as many traders from the North lifted the produce to be used as table potato, say the farmers.

Not only this, the chip manufacturing company from Gujarat has signed a memorandum with the potato farmers’ society of Gondla to produce and supply them two exclusive Canadian potato varieties, Shafordi and Santana.

But farmers supplying potatoes to the company are a resented lot as the company is giving them Rs 600-Rs 700 a bag as per terms of the MoU. “The other farmers are getting Rs 1,500 at the farm gate these days and we have urged the company to revise the price this time,” the farmers from Billing and Gondla told The Tribune.

More than 60 per cent of the crop has been transported through the 13,050 ft high Rohtang Pass to outside markets in Manali and other parts of the country.

Though the Lahaul Potato Growers Society has procured about 16,000 bags at its Manali godown, it has not announced the price for its member farmers so far.

The season is on these days and the procurement process is still on, says Chetan Azad, director and former chairman of the society. “We are selling a 50-kg bag for Rs 1,500 and production is good this year as the weather was good, though farmers cultivated the crop on a lesser area as we grow peas and off-season cauliflower as well,” said Prem Lam, a farmer from the Chandra valley.

Out of this, more than 50 per cent of Lahaul’s Chandramukhi potato has already been lifted by traders at table potato as retail prices of potatoes have hit an all-time high of Rs 45 a kg in the state and outside as the supply of potatoes in the markers have decreased for the last 15 days.

The estimate of the potato production is put at 1.63 lakh bags this year by the Agriculture Department as the farmers have cultivated the crop on 680 hectares as compared to last year’s 700 hectares. The production last year was 1.68 lakh bags, said officials.

Shimla, October 9
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today ordered audit of water harvesting structures, check dams, canals, water tanks and other similar works being undertaken by various departments.

Presiding over the third meeting of Himachal Pradesh Water Management Board here, he said departments would have to maintain the record of the structures and the works undertaken.

Stressing that water would be a scarce commodity and every drop of water would have to be conserved, he said the durability of the tanks should be ensured and there should be no overlapping of works.

Pointing out that many water harvesting structures were lying idle with little water, the Chief Minister said the departments should not consider mere construction of structures as their achievements. They also ensure that these cater to irrigation and other needs for long-lasting periods.

“Many rivers and rivulets in the state are usually in spate during monsoon and remain dry during winters and summers. The strategy should be evolved to store and conserve water along the banks of the rivulets and nullahs for meeting the summers requirements”, he added.

“I want end results and benefits be accrued to the people and durable assets created”, he said, adding that there should be proper desilting of the water tanks to enhance their storage capacity,” he said.

He also emphasised that every check dam structure should be numbered and complete in all respects and said roof top rainwater harvesting structures should be made mandatory.

Asserting that the government was committed to providing better drinking water and irrigation facilities to the people, he suggested that the construction of field channels from the main canal for irrigating the land should also be mandatory.

It had been observed that major projects such as Shah-Nehar had been completed but the feeding channels connecting fields had not been constructed, thus depriving people of irrigation facilities, he said, adding that, “Every project to be constructed must have feed canals and there should be signages containing full particulars of the scheme with name of the engineers involved”.

Citing example of Kinnaur district where numerous water tanks and harvesting structures had been constructed, the Chief Minister said the focus must be on providing reused and pure treated water to the people for irrigational and domestic purpose on the line of developed countries.

He said traditional water bodies need to be preserved and every new project or scheme should begin with taking into consideration all aspects. There were a number of schemes and these should be implemented with sense of responsibility and accountability. 

Nurpur, October 9
With a view to giving a facelift to nearby Jassur town, the main business centre in lower Kangra, the local administration convened a special meeting on the premises of the Block Development Office (BDO) here today.

Elected representatives of Kamnala (Jassur) gram panchayat, Beopar Mandal, sabzi mandi and truck operators union’s office bearers and traffic police personnel took part in the meeting. SDM Ashwani Sood presided over the meeting in which a strategy was chalked out to keep the town clean, beautiful and free from traffic hazards.

It was decided that the local gram panchayat would arrange the collection of garbage from the markets by sending a tractor-trolley twice a day and all shopkeepers were directed to keep dustbins on their premises. The shopkeepers would pay a fee to the panchayat for the sanitation of the town.

The Nurpur BDO would identify 25 points where new streetlights would be arranged and managed by it. To remove traffic bottlenecks in the town situated on the Pathankot- Mandi national highway (NH), the panchayat was asked to identify space for the paid parking of private vehicles and parking of private buses.

The loading of the vehicles by local traders had been restricted during daytime and allowed to do so from 8pm to 8am. 

Shimla, October 9
The two-day state level convention of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) will be held here in the state capital on October 27 to chalk out the blue print for strengthening and revamping the party including, frontal organisations and various departments.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Ambika Soni, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, ministers, legislators and senior leaders will be attending the session.

The convention was to be held in Dharamsala earlier in August, but was postponed due to the monsoon session.

“Brainstorming sessions will be held at the state level convention so that the party is fully geared and active and younger leaders are entrusted greater responsibilities,” said Sukhu.

He said he had already set the ball rolling for having smaller and active party units right from the block and district unit.

The session is considered important as the panchayat elections will be held in the state in December 2015.

Sukhu is keen that the frontal organisations like the Mahila Congress, Sewa Dal, Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India (NSUI) play an active role not just during elections, but throughout the year so that the programme and policies of the government reach to the masses.

Sukhu has already dissolved the defunct nine departments of the party including, Kisan, Legal, Intellectual and others. These are likely to be reconstituted with more active people who will devote time and are active.

“We will not restrict ourselves at the district and block unit, but have party units at the panchayat level so that our workers have direct contact with every voter,” said Sukhu.

The contentious issue of creating more than one District Congress Committee (DCC) in the bigger districts of Kangra, Mandi and Shimla and having two party units in the bigger Assembly segments of Lahaul Spiti, Bharmour and Rohru is also likely to come up for discussion during the convention.

Several senior leaders including, senior ministers vehemently opposed to the move.

They have even gone to the extent of stating that they will seek intervention of the high command in case any such move is made by Sukhu to split the districts at the party level. 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. 

Kangra, October 9
A week long awareness-cum-screening activities were organised to mark World Sight Day here today. Chief Medical Officer, Kangra, Dr BM Gupta was the chief guest on the occasion.

“Preventing blindness increases access to education, employment and prosperity. It enables participation in civil, social and political life,” said Gupta.

He said India had 12 million blind people and the number was more than any other country in the world. But, 80 per cent of vision loss was preventable or could be treated.

He said ‘Universal Eye Health’ was the International theme of World Sight Day-2014.

“Good eyesight is of utmost importance as it can also help maintain one’s quality of life,” he said.

He said the department would be conducting awareness-cum-screening activities in Vision Centres throughout the district and in schools during the week.

Dr RK Sood, district programme officer, asked people to avail the opportunity and recommended that everyone should get their eye sight tested every year.

Shimla, October 9
With the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Union Health Ministry standing by Maharishi Markendeshwar University (MMU) on the affiliation issue and some state officers going out of the way to help the Maharishi Markendeshwar Medical College (MMMC), the matter has become more complex.

The MMMC has claimed that it is a constituent college of the MMU but the government had issued an essentiality certificate (EC) in favour of MMU Trust for opening the medical college. Also, it had asked the MMU in January to get the MMMC affiliated to the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU).

However, the MCI issued the letter of permission (LoP) to MMU for opening the college and not the MMU Trust. The college got the fee structure approved from the government and also availed 50 per cent management quota but later claimed that it was a constituent college of MMU, Kumarhatti (Solan), last year.

The state Health Secretary had written to the Union Health Ministry on June 23, pointing out that the government had issued the essentiality certificate to MMU Trust but the LoP for admission of first batch of MBBS students was issued to the MMU. In response to the letter, the Union Ministry of Health wrote to the Chief Secretary that Section 7 of the Maharshi Markendeshwar University (Establishment and Regulation) Act was not applicable in this case as “read with section 5 (xxxi), the University can open its own colleges and institutions”. Although the letter was written by the state Health Secretary, the reply was sent to the Chief Secretary.

Rejecting the contention of the Union Health Ministry, the state secretary has again asserted that the EC was given to the MMU Trust but in the letter sent to the MCI it was wrongly mentioned as MMU. But four days later, the government sent another letter stating that EC had been issued in favour of the MMU trust.

However, the MCI ignored the revised letter and issued the LoP in favour of the University and not the trust.

Now that the MMU has categorically stated that the college is consequent of the University, it has to surrender the management quota and admit 25 per cent Himachalis and also refund the fee charged from the students last year.

The management claimed that it was a constituent college of the University but at the same time availed 50 per cent management quota whereas the Private Universities Acts clearly mentions that 25 per cent seats would be reserved for Himachalis and there would be no management quota. Last year, a committee headed by the then Health Secretary okayed the fee structure and allowed 50 per cent management quota, though it was fully aware that the EC has been issued to the Trust but later allowed the college to have its own prospectus and go ahead with the admissions and HPU or the government was not involved in the admission process.

Shimla, October 9
In spite of frequent incidents of theft in temples, the state government is not serious about the safety of idols in temples. This was stated by state BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt here yesterday.

Referring to the recent incident of theft at the Narsinh temple in Rampur where thieves had decamped with 15 invaluable idols, Ganesh said the temple was just 200 m away from the police post and no CCTV cameras were installed inside the temple.

He said the law and order situation had deteriorated in the state as most of the police and Vigilance officials were busy in “framing” BJP leaders in false cases due to the vindictive attitude of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Hamirpur, October 9
The state of the art synthetic track constructed here by spending a whopping amount of Rs nine crore is yet be put to good use by the Youth Services and Sports (YSS) Department as the college students are being deprived of playing various games.

The track was built at the Government Degree College ground and has deprived the college students from practicing major games including, cricket, football and hockey.

The sports authorities do not allow these games to be played on the ground.

The possession of the college ground was transferred to the YSS Department when the decision to construct the track was taken by the then Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal during his stint between 1998 and 2003.

Though, there were protests initially but later everyone agreed when they were assured that the college students would be allowed to use the ground for sports purpose.

As of now, the ground has been converted into an athletic complex and the YYS Department does not allow its use for any other game.

District sports officer Ved Prakash said they do not had a ground man or watchman to take care of the ground. The construction of an office block and VIP pavilion was also incomplete. 

Sundernagar, October 9
Residents of the town and its adjoining villages are nowadays facing a lot of problems due to the rash and negligent driving by bikers, posing a danger to the lives of the public at large.

In the last few days, the number of accident cases due to rash driving has gone up. Many people have lost their lives in such accidents.

In Sundernagar town, one will find many bikers zooming around the town and its outskirts. According to local residents, in most of the bikes the silencers have been removed, as a result of which the bikes produce a cracking sound while moving and cause panic in the area. Most of such bikers include Bullet drivers.

As per information gathered by this correspondent, most of Bullet drivers replace the original silencer with some spurious silencer which produces a more loud and cracking sound.

According to Mandi SP Mohit Chawla, after receiving complaints from local residents he has directed the officials to conduct a random checking and soon the bikers causing a nuisance will be nabbed. In the past, the police had booked many bikers for violating the Motor Vehicles Act.

The police have further intensified the checking by setting up different nakas on various roads around the town.

As per the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, no alteration in bikes is allowed and the bike owner can be booked for violation. Even the bikes can be impounded.

According to local residents, the police should start a special drive for impounding the bikes which have been creating a great nuisance in the area over the past month. 

Solan,October 9
An alert resident here thwarted an attempt to break an ATM of the State Bank of India at Brewary today. Shiv Kumar, who woke up at 3:45 am this morning, said he heard some banging noise where some people were trying to break open an ATM.

He raised the alarm and the two miscreants fled the site in their car.

Shiv Kumar said the two miscreants had snapped the connection of the CCTV camera and electricity soon after entering the ATM room.

SHO Anil Dhaulta said a case under Sections 511 and 457 of the IPC had been registered and a CCTV camera, installed near a hotel at Brewary, revealed that the vehicle involved had a fake number.

With no security guard being available to man the ATM, a question mark has been put on the security arrangements of such ATMs. Interestingly, two other ATMs located near this were not targeted and the bank staff had inserted cash into this machine yesterday only lending credence to the fact that it was a planned attempt.