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Friday,
June 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Shanta’s plea dismissed in
defamation case Search for missing Briton
intensifies Cong: govt adopting mud-slinging
tactics Stone crushers make
Damtal most polluted |
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Strong winds cause loss
of life, property Mizoram Governor for educational
reforms Corporate staff seek meeting on
demands Sabha holds drug de-addiction
camp HPSEB
officers, staff
form joint body Tribal areas to be developed: Nadda Changer belt water problem
solved Dhamwari hydel project stone laid 128 recruits enrolled in Army 6 lakh sanctioned for
MLA’s treatment
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Shanta’s plea dismissed in
defamation case Dharamsala , June 6 It is a setback to the Union Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar. The defamation case filed in 1999 by Mr Sat Mahajan relates to a news item containing the statement issued by Mr Shanta Kumar alleging that Mr Mahajan, who was a contestant in 1999 parliamentary poll for the Kangra Lok sabha seat against Mr Shanta Kumar was voter of two constituencies which was against the law. Later an advertisement also appeared in this regard. Refuting the allegation and terming it as defamatory, Mr Mahajan had filed a case under Section 500 of the IPC against Mr Shanta Kumar who had won the elections and was inducted in the Union Cabinet. The Judicial Magistrate Mr Jaswant Thakur, read the judgement in crowded court room late in the evening after arguments were heard in the morning. |
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Search for missing Briton
intensifies Chamba, June 6 Stating this here today, Mr Sharma said two police teams had been formed to search rugged ranges and unheard of rift valleys of the highlands of Bharmaur tribal region. The ASP said that police teams were also being assisted by the local search parties in the alpine passes of Kugti, Quarsi, Jalsu and Indrahaar Pass to trace the British national. The ASP said though the police was awaiting for some clues to information about Joel, yet no trace of the British national had been recovered by the police parties. Meanwhile, according to news statement issued by the British High Commission in New Delhi through its website www.ukinindia.com, Joel Kitchen, 25, was last seen whilst para-gliding from Billing towards Dharamsala on April 7, 2002. In the statement, it was also requested that if anybody have any information about Joel may contact the local police station or Miss Lucy Wallace on phone number 01894-68604. |
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Cong: govt adopting mud-slinging
tactics Kulu, June 6 Talking to the mediapersons at the PWD rest house here today, they said the Dhumal government would be responsible for any untoward happenings in the state, if the people came on the roads in anger. Mr Satya Prakash said the Dhumal government kept on levelling one or the other allegations against Mr Virbhadra Singh but had failed to prove these. Mr Virbhadra Singh, has been given a clean chit by the CBI and was not found guilty even by the court of law. Now the revenue cases being fabricated against the former Chief Minister would also prove a simple lie, he said. The Congress leaders alleged that the BJP-HVC alliance did not initiate any inquiries against the allegations made by its own ministers and MLAs against the government. They said the cases filed against its minister and MP were withdrawn without any inquiries. The Congress leaders further alleged that the corruption in the state had crossed all limits and the government was shielding the corrupt. |
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Stone crushers make
Damtal most polluted Shimla, June 6 The illegal operation of the stone crushers is being done allegedly with the patronage of local politicians coupled with negligence of officials of the state environment protection and pollution control board. It is learnt that 150 stone crushers in Damtal and adjoining areas of the district were operating without valid permission. Stone was being lifted for crushing from the nearby rivulets without payment of royalty to the state government. This has resulted in the nullahs and rivulets changing their course at many places. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had sometime ago ordered the closure of these crushers as these were polluting the air. However, the state government allowed them to operate again after dust control measures were adopted by them with installation of water sprinklers and covering the crushing portion. But hardly any of the stone crusher operators was using these safeguards now. The mining mafia has become very active in the state in the past few years and reports of illegal mining were being received from Chamba, Kangra, Kulu, Solan and Sirmour districts in particular. A recent seminar on mining technology had expressed concern over the degradation of environment and some experts warned that indiscriminate mining was an indirect call for catastrophe. Indiscriminate mining was reportedly being done in the Khanayara area in the lap of the Dhauladhars with political backing. It is learnt that at many places unscientific and indiscriminate mining was being done in the Damtal, Nurpur, Indora, Majra and Khaniyara areas of Kangra. Stone crushing by many operators was being done without obtaining “no objection” certificates from the PWD, local panchayats, pollution control board and the forest, industries and revenue departments. Illegal mining in the forest areas of the Chamba district has come to light and the issue was raised at many forums during the past some time. Not only mining, but lifting of boulders from the riverbeds was also affecting the environment. The situation was equally bad in the Baddi area of the Solan district where sand, gravel and boulders were being lifted from the river beds for the construction activity. With growth of industries in the Baddi and Barotiwala areas at a fast pace, the demand of crushed and river-borne material has increased manifold. The demand for such material in the adjoining Punjab is also met to a large extent from Nalagarh. This has resulted in the deepening of river channels. The Dhanbad-based mining institute had sometime ago suggested closure of 22 unscientific lime stone mines in Sirmour district. Mining experts have pointed out that haphazard lifting of river material has affected the environment of the Beas river in Kulu district. They suggested that a ban should be imposed on mining within five metres stretch all along the river banks, except the locations towards the concave side of the meanders. |
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Strong winds cause loss
of life, property Palampur, June 6 In another incident, 15 shops were gutted in a devastating fire in Jwalamukhi. It is learnt that because of high-velocity winds, fire broke out in a shop and later engulfed the entire market. In the absence of fire tenders, the fire could not be controlled immediately. The total loss has been estimated at Rs 50 lakh. The rain and high-velocity winds also caused loss to over 100 houses in Palampur and Dehara subdivisions. Hundreds of trees, telephone and electricity poles were uprooted in different parts of the district. The roofs of many houses were also blown off. The power supply remained disrupted in Jwalamukhi, Dehara and other areas. An officials spokesman told mediapersons that power supply lines have been damaged badly in many parts of the district. The SDM, Dehara, today visited several affected areas and supervised relief and rescue operations. Relief was also sanctioned to the fire victims. The SDM said efforts would be made to rehabilitate shopkeepers who had lost their property in the fire. DHARAMSALA: One person died while more than a dozen shops were damaged when a storm lashed Jwalamukhi and surrounding villages of Dehra subdivision in this district on Wednesday. Winds with a velocity of over 100 km per hour lashed Jwalamukhi and surrounding villages, uprooting trees and electricity poles. A large tree fell over an Irrigation and Public Health Department jeep near Sunehat on the Dehra - Dhaliara road, killing the driver on the spot. Three other occupants who were injured have been admitted to the primary health centre at Jwalamukhi. In the evening, a storm hit the area and damaged over a dozen shops and disrupted the power supply. Around midnight, more than 20 shops and kiosks were destroyed in a fire. According to sources, a short circuit appears to be the reason for the fire. According to fire brigade sources, at Dharamsala, the loss of property is over Rs 55 lakh. Fire engines from Dharamsala, Palampur and Kangra were rushed to Jwalamukhi and it took them about four hours to control the fire. No one was injured in the fire. One villager received burns when the fire lighted by him to burn dry leaves at Bhadoon village went out of control due to the storm. The Additional District Magistrate Kangra, Mr S.S. Guleria, along with the SDM, Dehra, and revenue officials visited Jwalamukhi and gave cash relief to the affected shopkeepers. CHAMBA: The water supply scheme for Moogla-Karian located on the outskirts of the town has been badly damaged by flash floods following widespread rain accompanied by squall in Chamba region last evening, causing a loss of more than Rs 5 lakh and hitting water supply. According to an official reports lightning struck a house in the Moogla-Karian area injuring a baby and causing heavy losses. Tin roofs of several houses have been blown off by a fierce wind in this region. Meanwhile, an official spokesman said that the work to restore the water supply scheme had been undertaken on a war footing. The revenue official had been directed to rush to the affected areas to assess the losses and carry out relief and rescue operations. |
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Mizoram Governor for educational
reforms Shimla, June 6 Delivering the keynote address on “Educational Reforms” at a refresher course organised by the Academic Staff College of Himachal Pradesh University here today, he said it was important that every individual should have access to education, which was a tool for the personal development of the individual and society as a whole. Referring to the present education system. Mr Kohli lamented that it was only producing qualified graduates but hardly educating people in the real sense. He said in his view, the people were more educated in pre-Independence times when the number of graduates was quite low as compared to the present. He said the education system evolved by Lord Macaulay for producing “babus” was still prevalent. He stressed the need for making the curricula more rational, objective and need-based. Mr Kohli said works of Indian writers and poets depicting the country’s social system and ethos should be included in the syllabi rather than those of alien poets with alien social and cultural background. Expressing concern over the growing rate of unemployment, he said the number of jobless registered with various employment exchanges in the country was 65 million whereas the number of vacancies advertised every year was only 1.22 lakh. Earlier, in his presidential address, Dr Suraj Bhan, the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, emphasised the need to provide quality education to students in consonance with the social environment and to help equip them for facing the challenges of life. Stressing the need to bring about a change in the attitude of society towards education, he said it was not only the duty of teachers alone and administrators and planners should also be sensitised towards reforming the education system. He called upon the teaching community to identify and develop the natural talent of students by paying personal attention. |
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Five clean, green schools awarded Shimla, June 6 Presiding over a state-level function, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, stressed upon the need for maintaining ecological balance and preserving environment. The function was jointly organised by the Council of Science and Technology and HP Pollution Control Board. The Chief Minister said the need of the hour was to make pollution control a mass movement. He said every educational institution, mahila mandal, yuvak mandal and NGO should be made part of it to make people aware about the degrading environment. Mr Dhumal said the state had completely banned the use of recycled polythene bags since 1999. He said all out efforts were being made to protect and preserve the historical glory of capital town and make it environment friendly. He said there was a need to carry out plantation work on the wasteland, which would help in the increase of forest cover in the state. The Chief Minister said the state would welcome the setting up of environment friendly industries, especially those based on local raw material, which would protect the environment. Mr Karan Singh, Minister of State for Primary Education, who also holds the charges of science, technology and environment, said the degradation in environment was a matter of grave concern which needed to be checked before it caused drastic damage to the ecology of the state. |
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Corporate staff seek meeting on
demands Shimla, June 6 Mr Rameshwar Gripta, secretary-general of the committee, said a 23-point demand charter was submitted to the government which, among other things, included implementation of the pension scheme for corporate employees left out in the schemes notified earlier, regularisation of daily-wage workers, residential accommodation, abolition of deputation system, grant of house rent to both husband and wife on the Punjab pattern, medical allowance and enhancement of capital allowance from Rs 100-200. However, the state government has not so far convened a meeting nor accepted the long-standing demands of the committee. Expressing concern over the delay in the implementation of the pension scheme to the retirees, he alleged that the state government had received approval of the Centre in October, 2001, which had paved the way for the disbursement of pension to the retirees, but the officials were adopting delaying tactics in its implementation. It was surprising that about Rs 70 crore were lying with the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner and the state government had not bothered to create the corpus fund and transfer the said amount into it for disbursement of pension. He urged the Chief Minister to direct the Chief Secretary to fix the date of the meeting with the corporate sector immediately so that the demands of the corporate sector could be discussed and settled. |
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Sabha holds drug de-addiction
camp Kulu, June 6 Mr Inder Singh vice-president of the sabha, said they had all details regarding drug traffickers which has been given to the local police. He further said the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police had visited the de-addiction camp yesterday and lauded the role of the camp organisers. The Deputy Commissioner announced a grant of Rs 10,000 from the Red Cross Society Fund for the camp and assured of additional help to make the camp a success. The vice-president of the Sabha urged the district administration to cooperate and apprehend those involved in the trade. The organisers were being helped by some local doctors, including one government ayurvedic doctor. Mr Inder Singh said the Chief Medical Officer here has assured of all help, including the availability of an ambulance round the clock. But the CMO expressed his inability to provide doctors as the government hospital here did not have any expert on de-addiction and there was also staff shortage. Mr Inder Singh further requested the Chief Minister for deputing the Dr Dhadwalia, who is posted at the government hospital Hamirpur, for sometime to help the volunteers in the noble cause. Mr N. Venu Gopal, Superintendent of Police, stated that the involvement of society could only save the youth of the district as the police could only arrest the drug traffickers. He said the district police would provide all support to the Sabha for eradicating the menace. He also called upon the people to let the police know about the traffickers so that stern action could be taken against them. The sabha has also called upon the people to support them and inform them of the drug addicts in their area so that they could also be brought for de-addiction. |
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HPSEB
officers, staff
form joint body Hamirpur, June 6 A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the HPSEB Executive Engineer Assistant Engineer Association, the HPSEB Junior Engineer Association and HPSEB Technical Employees Union here last evening. Mr Harish Sharma, President of the Officer Association chaired the meeting. Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, Mr Sharma said the need for the formation of the confederation had been felt due to the anti-employee policies of the government and the board. He said the confederation would fight for its rights and compel the board and the government to take pro-employees decisions. Mr Dev Raj Sharma, president of the Techanical Employees Union and Mr V.K. Sharma, President of the Junior Engineer Association, also attended the press briefing. He demanded workers participation in all policy decisions of the board. He said the board took many decisions regarding employees without taking them into confidence and harmed their cause. Mr Sharma demanded immediate lifting of ban on direct recruitments in the board for all posts. He alleged that while the top of the board was becoming heavier day by day, there were no new posts of the staff at the grass- root level and it was becoming difficult to perform the day-to-day duties with the skeletal staff. He demanded that three wings of the board the Administration, the purchase and technical should function separately and all the purchase work should be done by the purchase department meant for it. |
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Tribal areas to be developed: Nadda Shimla, June 6 Addressing a public meeting today at Chango village of Pooh subdivision of Kinnaur district, Mr Nadda said the Civil Hospital building at Chango would be completed soon and appropriate facilities, including doctors and paramedical staff, would be provided for it. The Health Minister inaugurated a community health centre at Pooh yesterday. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs 57 lakh. He said the link road from national highway No. 22 to Pooh village would be metalled by next year and residential building would be constructed for the teachers under the Yashwant Gurukul Awas Yojna. Mr Chet Ram Negi, Parliamentary Secretary, said Rs 64.52 lakh would be spent on the improvement and metalling of the link road from national highway No. 22 to Chango village, besides a water supply scheme has been prepared from Rishi Dogri to Pooh for which Rs 50 lakh has been allocated. |
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Changer belt water problem
solved Dharamsala, June 6 According to Additional District Magistrate Kangra, S.S. Guleria a large number of villages in the Changer belt of Palampur, Jaisinghpur, Kangra and Dehra subdivisions and more than 36 villages of Guler, Nurpur and Gangath Assembly constituencies had been facing acute problem of drinking water in May as several traditional water sources had dried up. Mr Guleria said, “The district administration had directed all subdivisional magistrates to survey the problem areas and prepare strategy to ensure that people did not suffer due to water shortage.” He said that about nearly 55 water tankers were deployed in various areas and funds placed at the disposal of subdivisional magistrates to meet the expenses. He said as every tanker was delivering more than 20000 litres of water every day, the situation has been brought under control. Early rains also helped to ease situation. |
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Dhamwari hydel project stone laid Shimla, June 6 The project would cost Rs 430 crore and was being constructed by a private party. Addressing a public meeting on the occasion, Mr Dhumal said tapping of hydroelectric potential had been accelerated and the budgetary allocation for the power sector had been increased to Rs 338 crore during the current financial year against Rs 90 crore in 1998. He said while signing MoUs with private entrepreneurs it was being ensured that Himachalis got employment in the projects. |
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128 recruits enrolled in Army Kumarhatti, June 6 The prime aim of the jawans should be to safeguard nation’s security and pride, said Col Raghuvinder Kapoor, commandant of 14 GTC, while addressing recruits on the occasion. The best recruits were presented with silver
khukris. |
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6 lakh sanctioned for
MLA’s treatment Shimla, June 6 Mr Bali has been undergoing treatment at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi. Thakur Gulab Singh spoke to Mr Bali on telephone today and enquired about his health.
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