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Wednesday,
February 27, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Terrorism spillover worries Governor Late by 4 yrs, HPU to table reports now No fresh taxes likely Create more districts in HP: Parmar Higher education ‘should be skill-oriented’ |
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Exemption from stamp duty sought Two held under Excise Act Shanta hails introduction of express train Sepoy cremated Free check-up camp on Women’s Day
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Terrorism spillover worries Governor Shimla, February 26 The Governor was addressing members of the Vidhan Sabha on the opening of the Budget session here today. He said a joint combing of the affected area had been carried out with the help of the Army, the CRPF, Punjab police and the Jammu and Kashmir police to prevent such incidents. He said the year 2001-02 witnessed one of the worst phases of cross-border terrorism in the country. Despite the UN resolution to root out all kinds of terrorism, some terrorists attacked the Parliament on December 13. The attack was repulsed by brave personnel of the security forces. He further said the people of India had always remained committed to democratic values and had never allowed any infringement of their democratic rights in any form. Dr Suraj Bhan, while listing various development programmes that had been taken in hand, said highest priority was being accorded to hydroelectric power keeping in view that it would accelerate socio-economic development of the state and the people. An accelerated hydro-development plan had been prepared and it had been proposed to add 549 MW of power under the state sector during the 10th plan (2002-07) in comparison with 137.5 MW in the seventh plan, 27.30 MW in the eighth plan and 28.50 MW in the ninth plan. He further said the government had also been pursuing setting up of small hydroelectric projects. 88 memoranda of understanding, 25 implementation agreements and 33 power purchase agreements had been signed for the development of small hydroelectric projects. As many as 117 project sites had been allotted to the private sector and an amount of 237.14 lakh was being spent during the year for the promotion of renewable energy programme under various schemes, he said. He said the government was according top priority to effective implementation of the plan to ensure timely completion of schemes and speed up the flow of benefits to target groups. Steps had been taken by the government to generate its own financial resources. Priority was also being given to provide employment avenues through development activities. It is envisaged to provide employment opportunities to 1.25 lakh persons through organised, self-employment and labour employment sector. Dr Suraj Bhan said various steps had been taken for the development of agriculture and horticulture. Improved varieties of root stocks had been imported from the horticulturally-advanced countries. Stress was being laid on post-harvest management of horticulture crops. He said high priority was being given to the construction of roads. Stress was being laid on the promotion of tourism and to promote aerosports. A sum of Rs 1.42 crore has been sanctioned for the improvement of the Palampur-Bir road for the convenience of tourists. The three airports of Shimla, Kangra and Kulu were also being expanded. To ensure planned and environment-friendly urbanisation, 21 planning areas and 25 special areas had been constituted. A sum of Rs 82.92 crore would be spent on various programmes of social welfare during the current financial year, he said. Later, the House paid tributes to Mrs Subhadra Amichand, a former MLA and mother of the PCC chief Mrs Vidya Stokes, who had died recently. |
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Late by 4 yrs, HPU to table reports now Shimla, February 26 No business could be conducted at the regular meeting held two days ago due to lack of quorum as only 16 members, five short of the quorum, were present. The meeting was adjourned after 15 minutes and the university court reassembled later to consider the reports for 1996-97 to 2000-01. The quorum condition is not applicable in the case of an adjourned meeting. The meeting of the university court, which is supposed to review the programme and policies of the institution and give directions for improvement, was held after three years. The university was compelled to convene the meeting as the government had given an assurance in the Vidhan Sabha during the last session that pending reports would be tabled at the earliest. It was also for the first time that Dr Suraj Bhan, Governor, who heads the court, did not come for the meeting. The failure of the university authorities to hold the meeting of the court regularly has virtually made this important body defunct. This also explains the inability of the university to prepare important reports in time. It woke up only when the issue was raised by the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha. Meanwhile, the university has decided to hold the elections of the Students Council on March 11 to send a representative to the executive council. The Students Council has been constituted after two decades. |
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No fresh taxes likely Shimla, February 26 In his previous four Budgets, Mr Dhumal had levied some taxes here and there to generate resources for the financially starved state, but sources said this time he might not do any such thing which annoys the electorate during the election year. Although the elections are due in February next year, but this is the last Budget session of the present Assembly. Mr Dhumal is himself not in favour of imposing fresh taxes as a majority of the people in the hill state are not in a position to bear the financial burden. However, the Centre and the Planning Commission have been stressing that the state government should take steps to generate its own financial resources and reduce dependence on the Centre. The Centre refused to increase the Plan size of the state this year and kept it static at Rs 1720 crore at the level of the last year. Loans to the tune of Rs 2300 crore have been raised to meet the financial requirements by the state government. |
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Create more districts in HP: Parmar Nurpur, February 26 The performance of the BJP-HVC alliance government in the state and the Vajpayee government at the Centre would dispel the effect of anti-incumbency factor in the Assembly poll. While supporting the creation of new districts in the state, Mr Parmar said in his opinion there should not be any financial hurdle in the reorganisation of districts on administrative grounds in the state. Mr Parmar pointed out that he had taken up the issue of unsatisfactory quality of uniform of the Indian Army and visited the ordnance cable factory (OCF) at Aobri in Tamil Nadu in this connection. |
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Higher education ‘should be skill-oriented’ Shimla, February 26 He said higher education should be made more inter-disciplinary and skill-oriented. The convergence of communication and computer technologies had opened new avenues. Prof Yoginder Verma, Director, Academic Staff College, said for improving the relevance of higher education, institutions must have a clear-cut vision and well-defined academic programmes. As many as 40 teachers from different disciplines and parts of the country are participating in this programme. |
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Exemption from stamp duty sought Shimla, February 26 In a letter to Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, the sabha pointed out that the educated unemployed had to arrange 25 per cent or more of the cost of project as margin money while raising loans for setting up their own ventures. Further, they had to pay 1.5 per cent as stamp duty and 2 per cent registration charges of the loan amount for creating mortgage deed on the land offered as security for repayment of loan. The unemployed youth mostly arranged the margin money by borrowing from relatives and friends and the stamp duty and registration charges only added to their financial woes. The exemption would go a long way in encouraging jobless youth to take up self-employment ventures. |
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Two held under Excise Act Kangra, February 26 The District Additional Police Chief, Mr N.D. Sareen, said here today that Rajeev Kumar of Kundia village was arrested at Jawalamukhi under the Excise Act for being in possession of 12 bottles of wine. The van used for the crime was also impounded. He said another person, Dharminder, a resident of Ulahrian village falling under Indora police station, was arrested and a working still was smashed and 4500 ml of illicit liquor were seized in Ulahrian village. |
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Shanta hails introduction of express train Shimla, February 26 Thanking Mr Nitish Kumar, Minister for Railways, for acceding to his request for starting a direct train between the two stations, he said it would benefit the people of Chamba, Kangra and Hamirpur. At preset there was no direct train service between Delhi and Pathankot as a result of which
people had to face a lot of inconvenience. |
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Sepoy cremated Mandi, February 26 A contingent of the Army and police fired several rounds in the air to salute the martyr and reversed the arms as a mark of respect to the departed soul. A Naib Tehsildar represented the government at the funeral. Former minister and sitting MLA of Gopalpur Rangila Ram
Rao, BJP chief Inder Singh and a large number of leaders of various parties attended the funeral. The Fatepur market also remained closed. He is survived by his grandmother, mother, wife, three daughters and a son. |
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Free check-up camp on Women’s Day Shimla, February 26 |
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Undertrials allege discrimination Shimla, February 26 In a joint statement here yesterday these undertrials alleged that their relatives were not allowed to bring eatables for them whereas there was no such restriction imposed on foreigners who were lodged in the jail, along with them. They further alleged that there was scarcity of water and they were facing inhuman environment as the sanitary conditions in the newly constructed jail were poor. They alleged that they had brought it to the notice of the authorities but they did not listen to their grievances. |
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Ban on sale of overripe fruits Shimla, February 26 |
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