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Tuesday, January 15, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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‘Shakti
peeths’ wait for pilgrims ABVP for
mechanism to monitor madarsas Fire
safety norms at club ignored?
SURPLUS LAND Discuss
core issues with China: Tibetans |
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73 cr
earmarked for technical education Circular
issued on foundation stones NJPC to
spend Rs 2.37 cr on afforestation MC
swings into action following notice Rape,
killing of woman: residents block traffic
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‘Shakti peeths’ wait for pilgrims Kangra The ‘‘shakti peeths’’ of Bajreshwari, Chintpurni, Jawalaji, and Naina Devi are looked after by the state government but there a lot of temples visited by pilgrims and tourists but the government has ignored these shrines, shutting the door to tapping temple tourism to tackle the financial crunch. Jayanti Mata Temple on outskirts of Kangra town is a glaring example of government apathy. More than one lakh pilgrims visit this temple situated on top of a hill in Old Kangra. The five-day Panch Bhikam Festival early this year attracted devotees from all over the state and outside. The festival started on the 11th day after Divali. Nearly 30,000 pilgrims visited the shrine on the last day of the festival. This ancient temple, overlooking Kangra Fort and the confluence of the Manooni and Manji rivers, has religious and historical importance. Mr Ram Prasad Sharma, a Bajreshwari Temple trustee, said the temple was famed for its cannon on the hill, put up by Mohammed Ghazni, to attack Kangra Fort. Jayanti Mata is said to be the ‘‘kul devi’’ of the Gurkhas, who visit this temple often. Pilgrims face problems owing to the bad condition of track and non-availability of assistance. Dr Naresh Kumar Lath, SDM, Kangra said: ‘‘Since it is a cultural and traditional fair of Kangra, the public and the local administration need to be informed. There is no police post to maintain law and order. Since it is a well-known fair, it should get attention from the Himachal Pradesh Government so that the administration can provide a police force and facilities to pilgrims. In view of the resentment among the pilgrims, the state government is now contemplating taking steps. Mr Vidya Sagar, HP Agriculture Minister, said the government would construct stairs to the temple from a newly-built road and would provide drinking water to pilgrims from the Sameerpur Taira area. What is required that the government should set up a ropeway to connect Jayanti Mata Temple with Kangra Fort, develop an approach road and provide basic facilities to pilgrims. |
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ABVP for mechanism to monitor madarsas Shimla, January 14 Addressing a press conference here today, he said now that even an Islamic country like Pakistan had announced stringent measures to prevent misuse of madarsas, it was time for the government to take effective steps to regulate the functioning of these institutions. He said freedom allowed to religious minorities to run educational institutions should not be allowed to be misused by anti-national forces. The ABVP had no objection if these institutions imparted religious training provided they were not used for anti-national purposes, he added. Mr Pappa said the basic purpose of education was to inculcate patriotism and national feeling among the people. In this context the ABVP favoured rewriting of history so that all distortions, which were the handiwork of historians of particular ideology, could be rectified. While the
British distorted the Indian history to justify their rule and create discord among various sections of society, the Indian historians pursued the same line after Independence. Even now various political parties were opposing deletion of highly objectionable references to great spiritual gurus like Guru Gobind Singh and Mahavira, he added. The ABVP, he said, was in favour of privatisation but against commercialisation of higher education. He said a study conducted by the ABVP revealed that the University Grants Commission (UGC) and state governments were curtailing the budget for higher education as a result of which fee was being increased rather steeply every year. He demanded constitution of a committee under the UGC for deciding the fee structure, besides a comprehensive policy for funding of higher education. He also demanded review of policy towards Bangladesh where Hindus were being persecuted and said it was time that the government took strong measures to send back the two crore Bangladeshis living in India. |
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Fire safety norms at club ignored? Kasauli, January 14 The club, which had been insured for Rs 1.2 crore had recently been renovated at a cost of Rs 27 lakh. Barely any arrangement had been made for installing fire extinguishers on the sprawling premises as a result nothing could be retrieved from the century-old book collection. The club secretary said fire extinguishers were installed in the club, but those knowing their locations were not present at the time of the outbreak of fire. Officials present at the site, however, stated that there was no fire extinguisher. Though lakhs of rupees were spent on renovating the club, fire safety norms were ignored. Wiring in the upper rooms which were worn out had not been replaced. Some members on condition of anonymity, said the fire place continued to burn even after every body had left the bar room and could have led to the fire. The theory of a short circuit as stated by club officials has come under a cloud with some members saying that the electricity supply would have been snapped if that had been the case. It was also felt that fireproof equipment, including smoke detectors, should have been installed. The club officials, however, disagreed and said the fire extinguishers were adequately installed. Mr J.C. Sharma, Tehsildar, said depending on the size of the building, it was mandatory to place sand and water buckets near its gate. But no such arrangement had been made at the club. It was surprising that no such provision was imposed by the insurance company. One of its officials, when contacted said this was mandatory only for industrial units. For two hours, the locals were using sand and even pebbles to douse the fire from spreading to the nearby television tower. An MES water tank with a capacity of 57,000 litres, located a little distance away, had no water when its key was located after two hours around 1a.m. |
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SURPLUS LAND Shimla, January 14 The two ministers also asked the former Chief Minister to tender an unconditional apology to people for the incidents of lawlessness on March 5 and 6, 1998 in view of his indictment by the Kainthla Commission. They said the government had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the then Divisional Commissioner, Mr Deepak Shanan, to conduct an inquiry but the Congressmen demanded a judicial probe to be conducted by a retired judge. It was on the demand of the Congress that the Kainthla Commission was set up. They said now when the commission had finally submitted its report and found the then Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, guilty of acts of violence, the Congress leaders had started criticising the commission. Meanwhile, Mr Virbhadra Singh, Congress Legislative Party leader, asserted that he had no intention to keep even an inch of land more than he was legally entitled to and said the inference drawn by his political rivals from the application filed by him for the rectification of revenue record by him were uncalled for. He said it was yet to be ascertained whether or not he had surplus land after the addition of units he inherited as the only legal heir following his mother’s death in 1994. He had suo-motu applied to the financial commissioner (appeals) for rectification of record pertaining to him as soon as certain discrepancies came to his notice. The fact of the matter was that his general attorney had under the mistaken notion applied that unmarried daughters were entitled to a unit under the Land Ceiling Act and applied for the creation of a separate unit in the name of his major unmarried daughter. However, as soon as he came to know that the Act had been amended subsequently to exclude adult daughters from the purview of Section 4(9) of the Act he applied for the cancellation of the unit and for reverting back to the position as it pertained at the time of the death of his mother. Further, this unit was to be added to his land and after doing so surplus land, if any, would be vested with the government after exercising his right of selecting the land to be retained by him for himself and also for his minor children as per the provisions of Section 4 of the Act. |
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Discuss
core issues with China: Tibetans Dharamsala, January 14 In a statement here, the President of the RTYC, Mr Ngawang Pagi, said the Chinese Prime Minister would not discuss harsh realities which were the core issues in the Indo-China relations. Expressing concern over reports about China increasing defence supplies to Pakistan, he said the truth remained that China had all along not only given political and economic support but also rendered military assistance to Pakistan, including the transfer of missiles and nuclear technology. He said during recent years, Indian markets had been flooded with Chinese goods, having an adverse affect on the Indian economy. He said China exploited raw material reserves from countries under its occupation, without paying for it, adding that 60 per cent of what the world recognised as China was occupied territory of Tibet, Eastern Turkistan, Southern Mongolia and Manchuria. He alleged that China did not even pay tens of thousands of prisoners who were made to work under inhuman conditions to produce cheap goods. |
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73 cr earmarked for technical education Shimla, January 14 The Department of Technical Education has already submitted a project worth Rs 23.75 crore to the Centre for seeking assistance from the World Bank under the vocational training programme Phase-II. In Phase-I, Rs 45.75 crore were spent to develop infrastructural facilities. Keeping pace with development, IT-related programmes have been introduced in most polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). The government has also entered an agreement with NASSCOM to address the needs of e-governance. An IT policy has also been framed. Three ITIs at Shahpur, Mandi and Nahan have been selected by the Centre to open information technology and electronics system maintenance trade. The physically disabled are also being integrated in the main stream of technical and vocational education and the Ministry of Human Resource Development has approved Government Polytechnic, Sundernagar, for upgrading it as polytechnic for physically handicapped. The government has also set up a committee comprising entrepreneurs to decide about the trades to be introduced in the ITIs. Though the state government has been opening technical institutes in far-flung and remote areas, it has decided to impart distant education through ITIs and polytechnics. One polytechnic and 15 ITIs have been approved in the state by the National Open School Organisation as accredited training centres. One ITI for women has been set up at Reckong Peo in Kinnaur district to provide vocational training. Additional seats have been provided at ITIs in Shamshi, Shahpur, Chamba and Dharamsala. |
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Circular
issued on foundation stones Shimla, January 14 The decision has come following a series of controversies generated with certain ministers laying the foundation stones in the forest areas or without any budgetary provisions. Reports of foundation stones having been laid on a large scale during the recent “vikas yatra” of the BJP were received. Many foundation stones can be seen at various places without any construction having been undertaken for years. The government has now sent a circular to all secretaries and head of departments, asking them to adhere to instructions. The circular points out that it has come to the notice of the government that in some cases foundation stones were laid on such sites or for such projects for which technical formalities like selection of land, clearance from the Forest Department or adequate budgetary provisions were not made. |
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NJPC to spend Rs 2.37 cr on afforestation Shimla, January 14 Stating this here today, Mr Tarun Kapoor, Director, Personnel, said the corporation was alive to the problem of environmental degradation and it was taking all possible steps for the rehabilitation of the fragile hills. The plantations would be raised through the state Forest Department. He assured that the genuine demands of the people who were affected by the construction of the project would be fulfilled. He said so far 51 persons from the affected families had been provided jobs, 35 families had been given alternative land in exchange and 16 others had been given houses. Besides, financial assistance had also been given for the construction of houses and starting self-employment ventures. |
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MC swings into action following notice Shimla, January 14 The Commissioner, Mr H.N. Kashyap, today reorganised the “tehbazari” system and created three zones in the town which will be supervised by senior inspectors. He said strict supervision would be kept over the hawkers under the “tehbazari” system in view of the directions of the high court. He said the estates branch would ensure proper movement of horses at the Ridge and conduct of cameramen and coolies working in the jurisdiction of the corporation. The corporation orders have followed the
intervention of the court which took a serious view of the haphazard manner in which the shopkeepers, particularly those in the lower bazaar and the adjoining areas, have occupied the streets. The streets had been cleared of the encroachments a few years ago, but these were again occupied by the shopkeepers and hawkers as the corporation remained a mute spectator. It is learnt that the corporation has also dropped the proposal of providing a piece of prime land on the Mall here to an influential trust for constructing a coffee house for the aged. This has apparently been done following widespread criticism of the move. |
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Rape, killing of woman: residents block traffic Una, January 14 The Deputy Commissioner, Una, Mr K.K. Pant, and the SP, Mr Abhishek Trivedi, reached the spot and pacified the gathering and informed them that allout efforts were being made to arrest Balvinder Singh and police parties had been sent to various likely hideouts of Balvinder Singh. They informed the gathering that the other accused Ravinder Kumar had already been arrested by the police. The SP told The Tribune that Bimla Devi, mother of Balvinder Singh, had died in the district hospital after consuming poison. No body had claimed the body of Bimla Devi for past two days. Meanwhile Bimla Devi’s second son, Jasbir Singh, who is in judicial lockup at Una in a kidnapping and rape charge moved a bail application for performing last rite of his mother. The bail has been granted. |
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OPD inaugurated Shimla, January 14 The Chairman of the management committee of the college, Mr R.K.Gupta, said besides dental, medical, X-ray and ECG facilities, minor surgery would be performed. |
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