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Tuesday,
March 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Sikhs want five SGPC seats School board puts off matric papers Punjab poll not to ‘affect’ Himachal Assembly pays tributes to Balayogi BJP-HVC rally on March 24 |
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CLP seeks President’s rule in Gujarat No dissension in Cong: ex-minister 5 killed as bus falls into Sutlej 12 posts of doctor vacant in Rohru ASI asked to renovate temple HP slashes excise duty on liquor Industrial Safety Day
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Sikhs want five SGPC seats Una, March 4 The convention was jointly convened by the Himachal Pradesh State Akali Dal and the Guru Nanak Mission to discuss various issues concerning the Sikh community of the state. Mr Paramjit Singh Chanana, Secretary-General of the Shiormani Akali Dal, said this was the third major convention of the Sikh minority community which had been fighting for its legitimate rights and recognition in Himachal Pradesh. Mr Rattan Singh, MLA from Paonta Sahib, and Mr Hari Narayan Singh, a minister, were conspicuous by their absence at the convention which was attended by Sikhs from Paonta Sahib, Nahan,
Sundernagar, Shimla, Mandi, Jabali and other places in the state. Among prominent participants were Mr Harbhajan Singh, Mr Kartar Singh Takkar, Mr Ravinder Singh, Mr Parajit Singh Chanana, Mr Harbans Singh Atwal, Mr Balak Singh, Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Jagir Singh, Mr Jaspal Singh, Mr Sohan Singh, Mr Nanak Singh, Mr Mohinder Singh Nalagarh, Mr Inder Singh, Baba Sarabjot Singh Bedi and Jathedar Harjit Singh Dharamsala. The participants were critical of the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh for its failure to honour its decision of introducing Punjabi in schools. Even after three years of the decision taken by the state Cabinet, little has been done to teach Punjabi in schools. The major problem was shortage of Punjabi teachers. The convention also demanded that the Surendra Club adjoining the gurdwara at Nahan should be elsewhere and land be allotted to the gurdwara management committee. Baba Amrik Singh Karsewawale has volunteered to construct a new school building at the new site so that the gurdwara building can be extended. The promise made by the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister to allot land for the Singh Sabha School at Shimla should be honoured. Once the land is allotted, the SGPC has promised a grant of Rs 25 lakh for the construction of the school building. The convention also demanded the setting up of a state minorities commission and representation to Sikhs in vaious boards, corporaions, public sector undertakings, district grievance committees and other such forums. The issue for permission for all residents of the state to buy land for their houses was also discussed and passed by the participants. Among the religious issues discussed at the convention were declaration of Hola Mohalla as a state festival, completion of Guru Gobind Singh Marg in Himachal Pradesh on the lines of Punjab and preservation of the Lohgarh fort, near Paonta Sahib as a memorial to Baba Banda Bahadur. In case, it could not be declared a state memorial, it should be handed over to the management of Gurdwara Paonta Sahib for its maintenance. The convention also wanted the setting up of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh Chairs at Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla. The convention also urged the Union Government and the Himachal Pradesh Government to simplify the procedure for the issuance of minority community certificate to facilitate recruitment of Sikh youths in the defence forces. |
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School board puts off matric papers Dharamsala, March 4 According to the Secretary of the board, Mr Vikas
Labroo, the decision has been taken on the request of the local administration and the Secretary, Tribal Development. He said the English paper of Class X and maths paper of plus two, to be held on March 4, will be held at a later date. Similarly, the English paper of plus one to be held on March 5 has also been postponed. Mr Labroo said the Sanskrit/Urdu/Tamil/Telegu/ Punjabi exam of matric and economics paper of plus two, to be held on March 6, had also been postponed. The political science paper of plus one to be held on March 7, shall be held later. Mr Labroo said the these papers had been postponed at all 15 examination centres of Kinnaur district and in Dodra Kawar area of Shimla. He said fresh dates for these papers would be issued later. |
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Punjab poll not to ‘affect’ Himachal Mandi, March 4 Addressing a press conference here, he asserted that the performance of the BJP government in Himachal was commendable. For the first time, the government had taken effective measures to harness the vast hydle power potential of the state through the HPSEB and private sector during the past four years. The pace of development had also been accelerated, he said. He came down heavily on the Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, for spreading canards and added that these parties were trying to mislead the people due to political rivalry. He said all decisions had been taken in supreme public interest. He said the coming Budget would be people-friendly and was likely to remove various grievances of the people. He stressed that the people of the state must keep a stark fact in mind that at present the state was not economically viable. The BJP government had laid the foundation of a prosperous Himachal by launching work on big, small and mini-micro power projects by involving the private sector in a big way, he said.
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Assembly pays tributes to Balayogi Shimla, March 4 The House observed silence as a mark of respect for Mr Balayogi before adjourning. The Speaker, Thakur Gulab Singh, described Mr Balayogi as an able Speaker who conducted the proceedings of the House smoothly despite many controversial issues coming up. He said it was a tribute to Mr Balayogi that he was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, said Mr Balayogi had fixed norms for maintaining discipline in the House. The 12th and the current Lok Sabha witnessed many controversial issues, but he steered the proceedings smoothly by taking all sections into confidence. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Leader of the Opposition, said black Sunday struck again by snatching a fine personality like Mr Balayogi. Incidentally, Congress leaders Madhavrao Scindia and Rajesh Pilot also lost their lives on Sunday in accidents. Mr Mohinder Singh (unattached) also paid tributes to Mr Balayogi. The Congress Legislature Party held a meeting and passed a resolution expressing shock over the sudden death of Mr Balayogi. The resolution adopted at the meeting, presided by Mr Virbhadra Singh, said born in a humble Dalit family of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Balayogi held the office of Speaker twice. He conducted the proceedings of the House at times under very trying conditions with firmness and by carrying everyone along. |
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BJP-HVC rally on March 24 Shimla, March 4 A good gathering would neutralise the negative impact of the recent election results and help dispel the impression that the party is on its way out. The party had invited Mr Vajpayee for last year’s rally at Hamirpur, but he could not make it due to the demise of Devi Lal. |
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CLP seeks President’s rule in Gujarat Shimla, March 4 A meeting of the party was held under the chairmanship of Mr Virbhadra Singh. It demanded that the President’s rule should be imposed in the riot-torn state to restore confidence among all sections of the people in the state. A resolution to this effect was also passed at the meeting. The party expressed concern over the communal riots and observed that the communal passions fanned by the forces of communalism and obscurantism had taken their toll in a state nurtured in the ideology of ahimsa preached by Mahatma Gandhi. The resolution said the party condemned the acts of carnage and hoped that sanity would prevail and peace restored expeditiously. Mr Mohinder Singh, unattached member in the Assembly, has also condemned the failure of the Gujarat Government in protecting the lives and properties of innocent people. |
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No dissension in Cong: ex-minister Chamba, March 4 Addressing a press conference here today, Ms Asha Kumari said Mr Virbhadra Singh was the undisputed leader under whose stewardship the party was being strengthened. All leaders were organising rallies at different places, she said. The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) President, Ms Vidya Stokes, was also strengthening the base of the Congress and preparing party workers all over the state for the forthcoming Assembly elections. She admitted that there were certain anomalies in the organisational elections relating to which petitions were pending with the high command. She announced that all arrangements had been made for the district-level maha-sammelan rally scheduled to be held here on March 20 in which former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, would be the chief guest and other leaders would address the rally. Similar rallies were also being organised at the constituency level, she added. Mr Sagar Chand Nayyar, a former minister, Mr Kuldip Singh Pathania, Mr Thakur Singh Bharmouri and Mr Nand Kumar Chauhan, all former Congress MLAs, also attended the press conference. She demanded the dissolution of the Board of Directors of the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank (HPSCB) which, she alleged, had become a centre of corruption. She said the BJP-led government at the Centre had failed on all fronts and that was why people of the country had voted against the BJP in the recently held elections in four states. The same would be repeated in the state in the forthcoming elections, she added. She said the government had led the country to anarchy. She alleged that the Gujarat violence was state sponsored. She lashed out at the government for working against its manifesto and for its own benefits. She described the recent budget anti-people. |
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5 killed as bus falls into Sutlej Shimla, March 4 The bus was on its way from Rampur to Urtu. Four bodies, including one of a woman, were recovered from the accident site. The subdivisional civil and police officers from Rampur rushed to the spot and started rescue operations. The injured have been hospitalised at Rampur. The conductor of the ill-fated bus told that there were about 25 persons on board at the time of the mishap. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal directed the administration to provide assistance, besides ex gratia grant, to the victims families. |
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12 posts of doctor vacant in Rohru Shimla, March 4 According to written information provided by the Health Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda, in reply to a question of Mr Virbhadra Singh (Congress) in the Vidhan Sabha today, seven posts of doctor are lying vacant in the Civil Hospital at Rohru. There are no doctors in the primary health centres at Pujarli, Katlah and Deudi. A doctor was recently posted at Lowerkoti. Nine posts of matron, ward sister and staff nurse are vacant in the Civil Hospital at Rohru. Two posts each of laboratory technician, pharmacist and laboratory assistant and one of ECG technician are also lying vacant. The minister and the government was making efforts to fill the vacant posts. Two laboratory technicians had recently been posted at Rohru and one each at Summerkot, Katlah, Badiara and Chirgaon. In a written reply to another question, the Education Minister informed Mr Virbhadra Singh that 109 posts of Principal Headmaster various categories of teachers and clerical staff were lying vacant in the Rohru constituency. In a written reply to a question of Mr Harsh Mahajan (Congress), the Minister of State for Primary Education informed him that 57 primary schools in the Chamba constituency were without proper buildings, 138 did not have playgrounds and 133 were without toilets. In a written reply, the Forest Minister informed Mr Raghu Raj (Congress) that 14 cases of poaching of wild animals had been registered in the state in between April 1,2000 and January 31, 2001. Five of these were in Solan district three in Sirmaur, two each in Bilaspur and Una and one each in Mandi and Shimla. In a written reply to Mr Rakesh Pathania (BJP), the Forest Minister said 60 cases of encroachment on government land have been reported around Dalhousie. Eviction had been ordered in 27 cases by the court and six encroachments had been removed so far. |
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ASI asked to renovate temple Chamba, March 4 According to Mr Harish Chandra Sharma, convener of the Chamba Chapter of the INTACH and a noted scholar of Pahari art and culture, the wooden pent-roof on the ‘mandap’ was burnt in a fire in 1957 which reduced the double-storeyed building, consisting of an office, a store, halls, a serai and more than a dozen shops in the temple complex to ashes. A cement slab was later laid over the ‘mandap’, which now leaks profusely, and rainwater has damaged the stone masonry works. It is feared that the slab may come down any time, causing loss to human lives. The Lakshmi Narayan Temple Committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Chamba, along with art and culture-conscious citizens of the town, have decided to goldplate the ‘kalash’ atop the “shikhra” type stone temple of Shri Narayan and have made an appeal for donations. Mr Devi Prasad Upadhayay, manager of the temple committee, said approximately 89 tolas of gold and mercury were required for goldplating the ‘kalash’. The centuries-old ‘kalash’, according to Mr Upadhayay, was earlier plated with gold but was damaged in 1957.
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HP slashes excise duty on liquor Shimla, March 4 Highly-placed sources told this correspondent this evening that several concessions had been given to the shop-holders and the excise duty on all brands of liquor had been slashed. The Cabinet met here this afternoon under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal. The sources said it had been decided that the existing system of annual auction of liquor territories would continue. The slabs of brands had been increased to four from the existing three and the excise duty thereon had been reduced. |
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Industrial Safety Day Parwanoo, March 4 A training session on first-aid was held yesterday. About 25 employees of the company took part. The employees took out a helmet rally through the town today. Mr Sanjeev Lakhanpal, the Deputy Superintendent of police, flagged off the rally. The employees of the company, wearing safety helmets, drove their two-wheelers from the factory to Timber Trail Resort. About 80 employees took part. A pollution check up camp was also organised at the factory. A provision for free tuning of these vehicles was also made. Persons were also given advise on how to maintain their vehicles. A street play was also presented by the employees, in which the wearing of personal protective equipment was emphasised. The play brought out the advantages of using safety helmets, gloves, industrial goggles and safety belts while working. Slogan competitions were also organised. Mr Chetan Joshi, Environmental Engineer, Pollution Control Board, Parwanoo, his keynote address, praised the efforts of all participants. |
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