 |
| Wednesday,
March 28, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Cong questions mining lease to
outsiders Cong against transfer of Kangra DC, SP HVC ‘ignored’ at all
levels in Kulu HC issues notice to
Chief Secretary Computerisation of GPO
inaugurated |
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BSNL to start cellular service Five get life
term for murder Varsity attitude
callous, allege students HP allows provisional
admissions Painting exhibition
inaugurated
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Cong questions mining lease to
outsiders Shimla, March 27 The issue came up during question hour and was tabled by Mr
G.S. Bali (Cong). Mr Chauhan said the applications of locals were rejected and permission for mining was given to a resident of Dehra Dun in
Uttaranchal. The minister had in his original reply to Mr Bali said Rakesh Kumar of Dehra Dun was sanctioned mining lease on 39.05 bighas at Banaur village of Sirmour this month for 30 years. In all, five leases were sanctioned in the past two years. He said the government had received several representations against the closure of the 23 mines as this would throw thousands of people out of job. The government was looking into these representations. Intervening during a question regarding the scarcity of fodder due to drought in the state, Chief Minister
P.K. Dhumal said financial constraints would not be allowed to come in the way of providing fodder to farmers. The Deputy Commissioners had been asked to procure fodder from the neighbouring states. Funds had been sought from the Centre for additional
tubewells. The question regarding the drought was raised by the Congress members, Mr Kaul Singh, Mr Rangila Ram
Rao, Mr Raghu Raj, Mr Singhi Ram and Mr Chander Kumar. The Minister of State for Revenue, Mr Mohan
Lal, said the state was in the grip of drought. The state government had postponed the realisation of bank loans from the farmers and an assistance of Rs 80.25 crore had been sought from the
Centre. A Central team would reach here tomorrow on a three-day tour for assessing the loss due to the drought. He said as many as 16,537 villages had been hit by the drought which had affected a population of 49.41
lakh. A loss amounting to Rs 360 crore had been assessed. The Congress
members grilled the government on the issue of not granting permission to land owners to cut trees on their private lands which were considered as government property under the “khudro
drakhtan” policy. The question was tabled by Viplove Thakur and Mr Gangu Ram Musafir (Cong), challenging the claim of the Forest Minister, Mr Roop Singh, that the objections raised by the Centre regarding the amendment of the policy and making the land owners owners of the trees had already been replied and the way had been cleared for granting permission for felling the
trees. Mr Virbhadra Singh (Cong) demanded a specific reply whether the state government had issued instructions to the Forest Department to allow the cutting of trees. In a written reply, the Forest Minister informed Mr Kaul Singh and Mr Musafir that 2,735 cases of illicit felling had been registered by the police in various districts between April and February. The highest number of 474 cases were in Sirmour followed by 443 cases each in Kangra and Mandi districts. As many as 178 cases of timber smuggling were registered during the period. |
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Cong against transfer of Kangra DC, SP Dharamsala, March 27 The names of the two dropped ministers, Mr Kishan Kapoor and Mr Ramesh
Chaudhary, along with the Kangra BJP chief and MLA, Mr Dulo Ram, figure in the FIR registered against them by two women zila parishad members from Nagrota. Minister for Technical Education Ravinder Thakur has also been dragged into the alleged abduction of the parishad members. The rebels had been sore with the Chief Minister for the registration of a case against them. After a revolt against the Chief Minister, they had demanded the transfer of the DC and the SP. The Chief Minister had indicated that if this was one of the grudges of the rebels, the officers could be transferred. Mr Bali said if the government transferred the DC and the SP, it would
amount to providing official protection to those who were facing charges of abduction. “It has been over a month since the FIR was lodged against the BJP leaders, but so far no action has been taken despite a prima facie case against them,” he said. He said the Congress would launch a state-wide agitation if the transfers took place, adding that the government could not shield the accused simply
because its survival depended on them. The zila parishad members, Ms Swarna Devi and Ms Punya Devi, had alleged that BJP leaders had prevented them from casting their vote on the day of the election to the post of chairman by keeping them in illegal custody. |
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HVC ‘ignored’ at all
levels in Kulu Kulu, March 27 Mr Sharma, who is also a strong contender for the party ticket for the Kulu Assembly seat, said the HVC had generated a tremendous response in the area and the people of Himachal Pradesh would bring the HVC to power in the next elections. Mr Sharma claimed that since he had taken
over as HVC constituency president, the membership of the party had reached 45,00 as against 1,000 two years ago. The HVC President lamented that the road condition in the Kulu constituency had gone from bad to worse in the past three years and that, he blamed, was due to lack of a political will. |
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HC issues notice to
Chief Secretary Shimla, March 27 Mr Ashwani Kumar Gupta contended on behalf of the petitioner that more than 8,000 persons were working with the government as Home Guards on daily wage basis. He further contended that Home Guards were paid Rs 15 per month as honorarium which was fixed in 1961. It was also contended that the government was exploiting them. He further contended that if an MLA has all these facilities, then why not the Home Guards personnel who had rendered service for the past 15 to 20 years. The notices were issued by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice C.K. Thakkar and Mr Justice L.S. Panta and directed the respondents to file reply within six weeks. |
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Computerisation of GPO
inaugurated Shimla, March 27 Speaking on the occasion, Dr Suraj Bhan said the present age was that of computers and modern technology and these had brought the world closer breaking all barriers. He said computers and electronic communication medium were realising the concept of global village. Stressing the need for adopting modern technology, he said computers and modern technology had become the necessity of life today. Dr Bhan called for encouraging the use of computers and modern technology to keep pace with the world. He said the effective use of information technology, computers and Internet could only help us in bringing quality in developmental works and services, enabling us to compete in the world market. He said India was taking long strides in the field of computer science and technology. Referring to scientific development in ancient India, the Governor said our country was very advanced in all spheres. He said the excavations in northern India had proved it beyond any doubt that Indian civilisation was very advanced and developed. He said the war of Mahabharata not only killed our valiant warriors but also destroyed our scientific knowledge. He lamented that there had hardly been any invention in the country during the past few centuries. Dr Bhan complimented the Himachal Pradesh Postal Circle for carrying out computer operations vigorously. He said with the computerisation of post offices a new era of modern facilities and efficient postal services had been embarked upon. This could help people avail modern facilities, he said adding that the modern system would help curb frauds besides ensuring speedy services. Recalling his association with the Post and Telegraph Department, he said he had served the department for 16 years and called upon the department staff to work with dedication and sincerity. Welcoming the chief guest, Mr Vijay Bhushan, Chief Postmaster General Himachal Circle, spoke on the computerisation of operations being carried out in the circle. He said Kulu Head Post Office was the first post office in northern India where operations were fully computerised and the local GPO had become second such Head Post Office in the circle. Mr Bhushan, said there were 18 head post offices, 443 sub-post offices, 18 extra departmental sub offices, 2,286 extra departmental branch offices and one departmental branch office in the Himachal Circle. He said 58 post offices in the state had been provided with computer-based multi-purpose counter machines enabling customers to avail services on a single window system. He said 9 post offices of Shimla GPO, Solan HPO, Bilaspur HPO, Hamirpur HPO, Mandi HPO, Kulu HPO, Una HPO, Parwanoo Sub Post Office and AG Post Office, Shimla, had been provided with a local area network for savings bank and other back-room operations. |
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BSNL to start cellular service Shimla, March
27 Stating this while presiding over the meeting of the State Telephone Advisory Committee at Paonta Sahib today, Mr
N.S. Gill, Chief General Manager, Himachal Telecom Circle, said during the current financial year 80,000 new telephones lines had been added and the nigam planned to add another 90,000 new lines during 2001-02. The collection of telephone bills through banks would be started shortly in the state. About 500 km of optical fibre would be laid to provide reliable communication media by June next. All villages in the state would be covered under the Village Panchayat Telephone Scheme by the end of 2001-02 with the help of the latest TDMA-PMP (Time Domain Multiple Access-Point to multipoint) technology and wireless in local
loop. Mr Gill said instructions had been issued to replace push button telephones after five years and even before if the instrument was found faulty beyond repairs. Internet nodes had been commissioned at
Shimla, Solan, Mandi, Dharamsala, Kulu and Hamirpur. Besides, telephone directories had been published by all telecom districts except
Shimla, which would be released shortly. |
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Five get life
term for murder Solan, March 27 The convicted persons are: Lekh Ram, Ravinder Kumar, Asha Ram, Ms Shanti Devi and Ms Satya Devi. Seven other co-accused Roshan Lal, Bipat Ram, Madan Lal, Ms Santosh, Ms Nanki Devi, Ms Geeta Devi and Ms Leela Devi were acquitted “for want of sufficient evidence”. The convicted persons, along with some others, had formed an unlawful assembly with the intent of assaulting the deceased Ashiwini Sood following differences over some property on the day the incident took place. They were armed with sharp-edged weapons, lathis and hockey sticks. They set upon the deceased as soon as he returned to the village after a visit to Shimla. The FIR was lodged by Mr Anoop Sood, son of the deceased who had fled the village, along with his wife, upon seeing his father being attacked. In another incident, District Judge Mrigainder Singh today sentenced Raj Pal, son of Mr Hari Lal, a resident of Narnaund, Hansi tehsil, district Hisar, to 10 years’ regorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh after convicting him under Section 20 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Raj Pal was caught carrying 1.5 kg of charas while he was travelling in a bus, near Shiv Mandir at Kumarhati, about 7 km from here, on the Kalka-Shimla national highway, during a routine police
naka. |
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Varsity attitude
callous, allege students Shimla, March 27 The function was organised by the SCA. The students alleged that authorities were the least concerned about such programmes organised at the students’ level. Various universities have been organising functions but the university had not organised even a single function with the students’ participation in this current session. |
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HP allows provisional
admissions Shimla, March 27 The admissions shall be completed from May 1 to May 10. The classes will start from May 11. The dues will be taken from the students on a quarterly basis. |
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Painting exhibition
inaugurated Shimla, March 27 Mr K.R. Bharti, Director, Language, Arts and Culture, said about 8,500 art objects and ancient archaeological objects had been displayed in the museum. A painting was also presented to the Governor on the occasion. |
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