P R A D E S H
Sunday, November 29, 1998
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H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
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Sunday, November 29, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Win clears clouds of
uncertainty CM
announces E&T flying squad |
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Tycoon's son kidnapped,
killed? Demand
to reinstate town planner 120
held for staging demonstration Grievances
panel Body
of French national found Varsity
strike called off |
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Win clears
clouds of uncertainty SHIMLA, Nov 28 — The clouds of uncertainty over the government of Mr P K Dhumal were removed when the ruling BJP won the crucial byelection for the Baijnath Assembly seat today. However, despite the BJP having improved its strength to 34 in the 68-members Assembly, Mr Dhumal for the time being will have no alternative, but to continue with the support of the three-member Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) of Mr Sukh Ram. Although the election result has made the position of Mr Dhumal a bit comfortable, however, one additional seat will not make his position firm. The HVC will continue to enjoy the status of being the balancing factor in the hung Assembly. Even after having lost the Baijnath seat, the Congress circles here are in high spirits because of the party's encouraging performance elsewhere in the country. The partywise strength in the Assembly after the byelection now is: BJP 34, Congress 29, HVC 3 and independent 1. The Speaker is not attached with any party. The 34 members of the BJP include the two of the HVC who were made to join the BJP for "technical reasons" by Mr Sukh Ram. Political circles point out that much will depend on the verdict of the Speaker, Thakur Gulab Singh, on the status of Mr Mansa Ram and Mr Prakash Chand, both ministers, whose entry in the BJP has been challenged by the Congress. Both of them had won the Assembly elections as HVC candidates. Mr Dhumal said that the defeat of the Congress in Baijnath was yet another setback to the party which not only lost power after the Assembly elections, but also was badly defeated in the three tribal Assembly segments and byelection in the Pragpur segment. The Congress also lost the election for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. He said that the victory
of Mr Dulo Ram, BJP-HVC combine candidate, was a seal of
approval on the policies and programmes of the state
government. |
CM announces
E&T flying squad SHIMLA, Nov 28 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, today announced setting up of a flying squad in the central zone office of Excise and Taxation Department with headquarters at Una and its zonal office with headquarters at Mandi. He was addressing officers of the Excise and Taxation Department on the conclusion of two-day-long seminar on excise and taxation (act, rules and procedures) for assessing authority organised at the Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration here today by the department. Emphasising for creating client-friendly environment by the assessing authorities, Mr Dhumal said that this would help in image building of department and also better revenue collection. He said that tax officers would be the best ambassador for investors in the state. Stressing the need for plugging the loopholes in tax evasion and also simplification of procedure, he said that the government would reward those officers doing good works and fix the responsibility for shortfalls. The Chief Minister said that habitual tax evaders should be dealt with sternly. He stressed for speedy
disposal of pending cases of assessment and added that
government had decided to set up a sale tax tribunal at
Dharamsala keeping in view a large number of pending
cases in that zone. The appointment for this was likely
to be made very soon, he said.
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Tycoon's son
kidnapped, killed? SOLAN, Nov 28 — The charred skeletal remains recovered by the Kandaghat police from a lonely spot on the Vaknaghat-Subathu road, on Thursday, have been identified that of Mr Kamesh Gupta (25) son of Mr Jai Bhagwan Gupta, vice-president of the Delhi Beopar Mandal. The Guptas ran wholesale "kiryana" (provisions) goods establishment in Khari Baoli, Delhi, considered to be the largest "kiryana" market of northern India, and had been described as "billionaire many time over." Mr Kamesh Gupta had recently purchased 16,000 square metres of prime land at Murthal (Haryana) for Rs 81 lakh for building a tourist resort there. The Superintendent Police, Mr ML Negi, said that eversince the acquisition of the property, Mr Kamesh had been receiving telephonic threats after which he dropped the idea of constructing the resorts. The foundation stone of the proposed building was scheduled to be laid on November 30. He said that the deceased was last seen on November 25. He had left his house (No C-12, CC colony), Model Town Delhi) along with his wife for casting their votes. After this he dropped his spouse at his in-laws' house at Roop Nagar, "North Delhi. When he failed to return after his routine hours, the family got anxious and made enquiries from relatives and friends. Finally they lodged a 'missing person' report at the Roop Nagar police station and the SHO after hearing them out registered a case under Section 365 of the IPC (kidnapping or abducting). A Delhi police party, which reached here today morning along with an uncle of Mr Kamesh for identifying and taking the possession of the body, was re-directed to Shimla where it had been sent for a post-mortem examination. No word had beeen received here regarding the conclusions as to the cause of death till the filing of this report. It had been gathered by this correspondent that the burning of the body and the car in which it was found was an ante-mortem act. While only charred private parts, intestines alongwith some abdominal skin tissues, and top part of the skull were in recoverable condition, flesh on the remaining body had been completely burnt. Bodies are seldom burnt to such degrees in normal car fires. Stomach was empty. The forensic experts who had preserved skin and blood samples from the body were confident of establishing the identity of the body through DNA tests. Ms Anita Roy, Additional
Commissioner of Police, Delhi North, was keeping in
constant touch with the local police for clues to the
case. A source in Delhi said that the possibility of Mr
Kamesh having been done to death after his refusal to pay
the ransom, demanded by his would-be kidnappers, could
not be ruled out. He said that the fact of Mr Kamesh
having dropped idea of building the resort could be a
signal that he did not intend paying any ransom to the
persons who kidnapped and later murdered him. |
Demand to
reinstate town planner SHIMLA, Nov 28 — Town planners have urged the Himachal Pradesh government to reinstate Mr Sandeep Sharma, Town and Country Planner, Solan, suspended for allegedly not demolishing a building owned by a Congress activist at Parwanoo. A meeting of the general house of the Himachal Pradesh Town Planners Association held on Thursday expressed deep concern over the "uncalled" action against Mr Sharma. A statement issued here today said that the general house observed that Mr Sharma had acted strictly in accordance with the mandatory provisions and policy of the government. They warned that they would be forced to launch an agitation if Mr Sharma was not reinstated forthwith. They demanded that the officers who were emphasising demolition of the structure for which the owner had obtained stay order from a court should be placed under suspension. They have pointed out that the building was to be dealt with by the district authorities under Section 118 of the H.P. Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, the Roadside Land Control Act and the the H.P. Municipal Act and not alone under the H.P. Town and Country Planning Act. They have said that the
district authorities could have demolished the buliding
under these provisions if they had urgency about it. |
Swami's
security restored CHANDIGARH, Nov 28 — The Lokayukta, Himachal Pradesh, has ordered the Himachal Pradesh Government to restore security to Swami Krishnand, President of the All-India Hindu Mahasangh, in the State. The Swami who is also the founder of Naina Gufa Ashram, has been seeking restoration of personal security for the past few months on account of risk to his life from some people who have been opposing his demand for proper audit of account of offerings in the temples in the state. The security had been
withdrawn on the basis of some "illfounded"
reports sent to the state headquarters by the Bilaspur
police, the Swami claimed. |
120 held for
staging demonstration SHIMLA, Nov 28 — About 120 activists of the CPM and other organisations were arrested when they staged a demonstration here today against the failure of the government to control rising prices. Prominent among those
arrested are Mr Rakesh Singa, Mr O.P. Chauhan, Mr
Tekinder and Mr Kushal Bhardwaj. CPM, CITU, SFI and DYFI
activists earlier took out a procession raising
anti-government slogans. |
Grievances
panel SHIMLA, Nov 28 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has nominated A 47-member district grievances committee for Sirmaur. Ms Shyama Sharma,
Chairperson of the State Finance Commission, will head
the committee. |
Body of
French national found DHARAMSALA, Nov 28 — Body of a French national Chopart Burano was found from the Bhagsu Nag waterfall area, near McLeodganj, yesterday. According to the police, the body was spotted by local villagers. Burano, who was staying in a hotel in McLeodganj, had gone for trekking when the mishap occurred. The police found currency
worth Rs 90,000, a camera and passport. The police has
intimated the French embassy in Delhi about his death. |
Varsity
strike called off SOLAN, Nov 28 — The 16-day old NSUI-led strike and 10-day old indefinite fast of four students of Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry was called off following a settlement of students' demands today. The agreement was arrived
at after 12 hours of negotiations between leaders of the
NSUI and university authorities. |
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