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Sunday,
May 5, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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NJPC amid controversy again Withdraw ‘anti-people’ steps: SJP HVC has lost base in state: morcha CM: Punjab to celebrate Ajit Singh tercentenary |
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End to INTUC factional feud in sight HP to celebrate National Tech Day Deepak Project celebrates Raising Day M.S. Oberoi’s death mourned Vultures bring cheer to conservationists HRTC drivers demand arrears
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NJPC amid controversy again Shimla, May 4 Sources said the matter was under investigation on the orders of the Power Ministry. There was reportedly no provision in the contract to grant advance payments. It is being alleged that some top bosses of the NJPC misused their position and paid the advances. However, the payments were later got approved by the board of directors. It is being pointed out that an advance payment of Rs 8.25 crore was paid to a contractor in 1997, although they were to meet the expenses from their own funds. Another contractor was paid an ad hoc amount of Rs 2.26 crore on account of productivity loss. The matter was investigated by a senior vigilance officer, who reported that no such payment was to be made to the contractor. The claim review committee observed that only Rs 38.06 lakh could be paid to the contractor. An additional payment of Rs 95.94 lakh was reportedly made to the same contractor in 1998 for providing stiffner rings on pressure shaft shells. The sources said only the principal amount of advances given for mobilisation and machinery paid to a contractor was recovered first and the interest of Rs 14.82 crore was realised later in 1997-98. The Nathpa project, which was initially expected to cost about Rs 4500 crore, is now likely to be commissioned at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore. |
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Withdraw ‘anti-people’ steps: SJP Shimla, May 4 The executive committee of the SJP, which met here today under the chairmanship of Mr Kul Rakesh Pant, president of the state unit of the party, described the election results as a rejection of the BJP—HVC alliance by the people. Besides others, the National Secretary-Generals of the SJP, Mr O.P. Shrivastava, Mr Shyam Singh Rana and Mrs Basanta Anand Kumar, were present. A resolution adopted at the meeting said the people were aggrieved at user charges in hospitals, the steep hike in electricity tariff, “anti- people and anti-farmer” policies and employment given to BJP workers and their sympathisers in government and educational institutions. It alleged that the interests of Himachal Pradesh had been sold while signing MoUs for construction of hydroelectric projects and rules for the hydro power sector were changed frequently. The resolution alleged that a particular industrial group had been favoured by allowing it to establish the Jaypee University of Information and Technology here with only 5 per cent reservation for Himachali students. This was a departure from the earlier practice of reserving 95 per cent seats for students of the state. The SJP demanded that Himachal Pradesh should be given its due share of 7.19 per cent under the Punjab Reorganisation Act and granted financial assistance for not exploiting the forest wealth with a view to maintaining the ecology and environment. It demanded that ownership of power projects located in the state should be transferred to Himachal Pradesh in the wake of attainment of statehood and royalty for riverwaters being utilised by the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. The SJP gave a call to the people of the state to beat “thalis” at 1 pm on June 1 to attract the attention of the Centre and the state government towards their demands. It was decided to convene a meeting of intellectuals and professionals to discuss the problem of growing unemployment. |
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HVC has lost base in state: morcha Mandi, May 4 Addressing a press conference, he said the morcha would field its candidates on all 68 Assembly seats and emerge as the third force in the state. He welcomed the workers of the HVC to join the morcha without further delay and added that the HVC supremo, Mr Sukh Ram, could no more befool the people of the state by projecting himself as the future Chief Minister. He said the people of Mandi were facing water scarcity because the Dhumal government had not allocated Rs 2.5 crore for the completion of the Rs 9.41-crore drinking water augmentation project. |
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CM: Punjab to celebrate Ajit Singh tercentenary Paonta Sahib, May 4 Blaming the Badal government for making the state economically weak, he said the Congress government was trying to improve the financial condition of Punjab. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister of Uttaranchal, Mr N.D. Tiwari, said fundamentalism and communalism were very harmful for the country. The Chief Ministers of Punjab and Uttaranchal were presented a siropa by Jathedar Kartar Singh Takker on the occasion. Later, addressing mediapersons at a joint press conference along with Mr N.D. Tiwari, the Punjab Chief Minister said the fight against corruption was on as one scam after another was being unearthed. Capt Amarinder Singh said he was against the setting up of a nuclear power plant in Punjab. Mr N.D. Tiwari said he would like to involve Himachal Pradesh in Uttaranchal’s hydel power project. |
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End to INTUC factional feud in sight Shimla, May 4 Both factions were earlier asked to reach Delhi on May 8, but now the programme has been postponed as Mr Reddy is not in the Capital. The two factions led by Ms Kanta Sood and Mr Amarjeet Singh Bawa are at loggerheads for the past few years. The party elections could not be held last year as one group had obtained stay from court. The stay has now reportedly been withdrawn following the intervention of Mr Subhash Sharma, president of the Punjab unit of INTUC, who is learnt to have held a series of meetings with both factions. The last elections were held in 1998 at Kangra and these were due in November last year. Ms Sood has convened a meeting of the working committee of the party for May 19 to fix the date and venue for the elections. Meanwhile, Ms Sood and Mr Waryam Singh, general secretary, have endorsed the demands of the HRTC Drivers and Conductors Union. She has warned that the working committee would take serious note of anti-union activities. |
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HP to celebrate National Tech Day Shimla, May 4 An official spokesman said under the programme, these institutions would demonstrate technological capabilities give live demonstrations and hold discussions and competitions. This campaign would start from May 11, 2002, and continue during the period 2002-2003. The council would also identity innovative technologies developed by state institutions. The main objectives of the National Technology Day (NTD) were to focus the attention of the nation, especially students, teachers, engineers, scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs on the issue of technological development and advancement. |
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Deepak Project celebrates Raising Day Shimla, May 4 The project did a commendable job during the last Indo-Pakistan conflict in Kargil when it kept the snow-covered Manali-Leh road open for a major part of the winter for the Army convoys to reach the battlefield as the other road from Srinagar to Leh was under constant fire of the enemy guns. The 138-km-long Tandi-Killar-Sansari road has been constructed to provide a link with Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. This will enable the security forces to tackle terrorism in the area. Clearance of snow after winter on the 222-km-long Manali-Leh highway, which passes through the 13,000 ft Rohtang Pass and is 16,000 ft high, is an annual ritual which the project performs. Now it will undertake the construction of a nearly 9-km-long tunnel below the
Rohtang. |
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M.S. Oberoi’s death mourned Shimla, May 4 Mr M.K. Seth, president of the association, paid glowing tributes to Oberoi and said he was a legend by himself who rose to glorious heights through sheer hard work, dedication and determination. His passing away had caused a n irreparable loss to the hospitality industry. Mr Gopal Aggarwal, senior vice-president of the association, said Oberoi started his career as a front office desk clerk at The Cecil, Shimla. He said the room at “Band Quarters” of The Cecil, which was allotted to Oberoi had great heritage value for the hospitality industry and the room should be preserved for our future generations to remind them of the fact that through sheer hard work and determination, a person could rise to unimaginable heights. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, expressed shock over the death. He said in the death of Mr Oberoi, the Indian hotel industry had lost a pioneer in the field. |
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Vultures bring cheer to conservationists Kumarhatti The sudden disappearance of vultures from the rural areas has remained an unsolved riddle for wildlife experts and scientists. Their vanishing from places mainly in Punjab and Haryana, where they used to be in abundance, has caused serious concern and a nationwide vulture alert has been sounded by the Bombay Natural History Society. At Himmatpur Dabli vultures descended within hours of a villager dumping the carcass of a buffalo in a nullah. Initially, there were around 20 vultures but the next day nearly 100 birds were seen. The big birds, popularly described as the world’s most dependable natural scavengers, kept away from the carcass throughout the day due to the presence of stray dogs and crows which had noticed the carcass first. It was only the next morning that the birds fed on the carcass when the dogs and crows had left the site. Three endangered species were spotted besides the king vulture. Around 90 per cent of the vultures seen were big in size and dark brown in colour. The rest were white backed and black in colour or black with small whitish patches. Though the sighting of vultures is common in and around this town whenever any carcass is dumped, the spotting of the king vulture is said to be rare. Mr T.S. Tomar, manager of the Dagshai Army dairy farm, 4 km from here, an area frequented by vultures in search of carcasses, says in the past two years he has observed changes in the birds. Besides a decline of 50 per cent in their population here, they now appear to be dull in nature. Their bright colours have been gradually fading and it appears they may soon disappear from the area. The big pine trees where they usually perch are gradually drying up. Around 20 such trees in and around the dairy farm have dried up, he adds. |
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HRTC drivers demand arrears Mandi, May 4 The union decided to wear black badges from May 14 to 20 and hold a dharna at Shimla on May 21. Mr Rajinder Pal and Mr Ram Swarup, president and general secretary, respectively, of the union, told this to mediapersons. |
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