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Tuesday,
September 10, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Rumours on Sukh Ram joining Cong denied Govt may bail out varsities for now Zoo funds ‘inadequate’ Pay up or face stir, power board told Gastroenteritis cases on the rise |
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Residents rue lack of
basic amenities 3 MBD men detained for damaging rocks 5 remanded in murder case
2 killed as jeep falls into gorge Onkar Sharma nominated to
HPCC Thakur is
Vice-Chairman, Admn Tribunal
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Rumours on Sukh Ram joining Cong denied Mandi, September 9 Talking to mediapersons he said the HVC would contest all 68 seats in the coming Vidhan Sabha elections. Replying to a question he said the crucial question of electoral alliance would be decided at an appropriate time. When asked if it was not true that the popularity graph of the HVC was going down and some of its stalwarts were joining the Congress, he said people join and leave political partie’s and no inference should be drawn from this. He admitted that a majority of party leaders and workers were opposed to the continuing support to the BJP and some of them had even left the party in protest. He added that despite all odds the HVC would not withdraw its support to the government. He claimed that some Congress leaders had expressed desire to join the HVC. “You will have many surprises in the coming months”, he said. Meanwhile, A former PWD Minister and the state coordinator of Himachal Pradesh Lok Tantrik Morcha, Mr Mohinder Singh, today flayed former Union Minister Sukh Ram for neglecting Mandi district and the Sadar constituency. Addressing a rally at Kotli, the stronghold and the native village of Mr Sukh Ram, Mr Mahinder Singh said the problem of unemployment had not been tackled, adding that he had accommodated some of his relatives in state services. He said this was despite the fact that Mr Sukh Ram was in charge of employment generation with a Cabinet rank. He said workers were leaving the HVC because Mr Sukh Ram was allegedly ignoring competent persons. He said that Mr Narender
Kaundal, general secretary of the district unit of the HVC had joined the Lok Tantrik Morcha. |
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Govt may bail out varsities for now Solan, September 9 According to sources, Mr Bragta promised to take up the university’s case with the Chief Minister. He reportedly asked the Vice-Chancellor to remain in the state capital for a few days. Sources in the BJP said here that in view of the hardships being faced by the university employees and their families, the Chief Minister might be willing to bail out the institution, at least for the time-being. “However, the university will have to find ways and means to raise a good part of the funds on its own as the state is likely to remain under severe financial pressure for some more years to come.” Already, the government has put the Secretary, Agriculture and Horticulture, Mr K.K. Gupta, on the job. He has been instructed to make a detailed study of the possibilities of enabling Parmar University here as well as the one at Palampur meet the financial shortfalls on their own. The government feels that Parmar University, like the universities in the West, can raise substantial funds by way of “sale of technology and plant material”. Mr Gupta visited the Parmar University campus here a few days back and held detailed discussions with the authorities. He has undertaken a similar exercise at Palampur. He is expected to submit his report to the high-powered State Council of Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry Research headed by the Chief Secretary by October 15. The council, after due deliberations, is expected to submit its report to the Chief Minister soonafter. Senior dons seem pessimistic about the university’s potential for raising its own financial resources. They opine that the university mandate is confined to research, extension and teaching. Neither the Vice-Chancellor nor the faculty has any training or orientation for assuming “the mantle of traders”. Meanwhile, former Congress MLA Krishna Mohini, in a strongly worded press statement, has condemned the “callous and careless attitude” of the state government towards the Parmar University employees. “It is a shame that scientists and other staff of the university who have helped increase the horticulture produce of the state from a few hundred crores to the present over Rs 2,000 crore per annum have been treated so shabbily,” she has said, urging the Chancellor, Dr Suraj Bhan, to release the pending grant money to the university immediately. |
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Zoo funds ‘inadequate’ Shimla, September 9 The CZA, which was set up a decade ago to regulate the functioning of zoos, had closed down 63 zoos in the country as they did not conform to the minimum standards laid down by it. The aim of the authority was to bring about an improvement in the basic facilities in the zoos by asking the authorities concerned to remove the deficiencies. However, when they failed to do so for want of funds or any other reason, there was no option but to order their closure, he told TNS in an interview. He said the directions issued by the Supreme Court regarding the upkeep of animals in captivity had brought about much improvement in the zoos, though a lot more was required to be done. Meagre funds being made available by the state governments were barely enough for the upkeep of animals. The CZA had been providing funds, but it was basically the responsibility of the states to properly maintain the zoos. As per norms, at least 15 per cent of the budget of the Forest Department should be allocated for wildlife management. However, most of the states were not providing even 5 per cent. In case of Himachal Pradesh, it was as meagre as 0.2 per cent. Efforts were being made to raise funds by setting up autonomous societies to manage the zoos. The main objective was to ensure that the amount collected through entry fee was spent on the upkeep of animals. However, it was ultimately the responsibility of the state government to arrange funds as zoos and nature parks could not be managed as commercial ventures. Even in the Delhi zoo, the only zoo in the country directly under the Union of Ministry of Forest and Environment, the money collected through entry fee was about one-third of the total expenditure. Mr Sinha said the CZA had granted provisional recognition to 182 zoos in the country. Out of these 58 big and medium zoos were well-managed. Only 7 of these did not have facilities for animal health care on which stress was being laid after the death of tigers in the Nandan Kanan Zoo in Orissa. While infrastructure in the existing zoos is being improved in a phased manner, no new zoo could be set up without the prior approval of the
CZA. This would go a long way to ensure that no animal was kept in captivity without providing it requisite facilities. |
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Pay up or face stir, power board told Mandi, September 9 Expressing concern over the “inordinate delay” by the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board in clearing their payments for the goods supplied, the association pointed out that the board owed to the suppliers of the central zone a sum of Rs 4.5 crore. The meeting, which was attended by representatives from all over the state, lamented that several small contractors who had supplied goods by raising loans from financial institutions had been rendered bankrupt by the “callous and evasive attitude” of the HPSEB. Mr Anand Kumar, president of the association, told mediapersons that no payment had been made to the suppliers during the past two years. Most of the suppliers were self-employed youths and the HPSEB had made their life “unbearable” by withholding payments. He said earlier their payments were cleared within three months of the supply of goods. Now the financial powers of XENs had been curtailed as a result of which the arrears of suppliers were mounting. Despite repeated assurances given the HPSEB Chairman, nothing had been done so far. The association warned the board that if it did not take immediate steps to clear the dues, it would be forced to take recourse to legal remedy and also launch an agitation at the board headquarters in Shimla. |
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Gastroenteritis cases on the rise Hamirpur, September 9 Mr Ram Pal Sharma, an affected villager, said more people were contracting the disease and they were getting treatment at the village as well as hospitals and nursing homes elsewhere. Meanwhile, the decision of the district administration to punish the panch of the local ward for laxity in supervising the water supply sources of the village has become a topic of discussion among the people. Surprisingly, this panch is not in the village for the past six months and has gone to Kinnaur to earn his livelihood. The district administration had decided to chlorinate all water sources in the district much ahead of the arrival of the monsoon and had announced that if at any place any water-borne disease occurred, it would be the responsibility of the gram panch concerned. |
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Residents rue lack of
basic amenities Parwanoo, September 9 The sector is
about 4 km from the main town of Parwanoo on the Kalka-Shimla Highway.
It came into existence about 10 years ago, but the HP Housing Board
has still not handed over its maintenance to the local Nagar
Parishad. According to the president of the Residents Welfare
Association of this sector state of cleanliness is pathetic. Garbage
collection bins have got damaged due to normal wear and tear and
garbage keeps lying scattered all over the area. Sanitation officials
are seldom seen here. According to residents, main roads and lanes
of this sector are badly damaged and have deep pot holes which make
driving difficult. Moreover about 60 per cent of the street lights have
been non-functional for the past several months. Residents maintain
that an effective drainage system can go a long way in coping damage
to the roads during the rain season. Monkey menace is further adding
to the residents’ problems. Diseases are on the rise in the sector
because there is no control on stray animals and cow dung keeps on
lying in the area creating insanitary conditions. Thick growth of
Congress grass has led to an increase in allergy cases. According to
the president of the association they have made repeated requests to
the housing board authorities to improve the state of affairs, but to
no avail. Problems of the residents have been brought to the notice of
even higher authorities at Shimla, but even then there is no
improvement in the plight of the residents, he adds. |
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3 MBD men detained for damaging rocks Kulu, September 9 The correspondent had contacted the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), here to know about the action of the department regarding the offenders. Mr B.D. Suyal, DFO, said notices had been issued to all concerned regarding the misuse of forest property for advertisements. He further said three MBD employees Prakash, Mithun and Bharat Bhushan had been detained under the Forest Conservation Act, 1983, and were handed over to the police at Manali for grinding the rocks to remove the advertisements. The tempo on which a generator was placed for operating the grinding machine was also seized. Show-cause notices had also been issued to 15 other small offenders, including a few hoteliers of Manali. In yet another campaign the Forest Department along with the Border Road Organisation removed 16 temporary sheds built on the Solang-Dhundhi road. The DFO said the department had also closed down two unauthorised crushers of the BRO, Deepak Project, at Nehru Kund and Marhi and the third being installed by a defence organisation. |
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5 remanded in murder case Kangra, September 9 The district police chief, Mr Sanjay Kundu, stated this while addressing a press conference at the local police station here today. He said the car and the motor cycle used in the crime had been impounded. Mr Kundu said Anil Kumar, the victim had booked a room at a local hotel on September 4. In the morning when he did not open the door the hotel staff broke open the door of the room and found him dead after allegedly consuming poison. The accused dumped the body near Rajiana village and destroyed the evidence including the hotel record. The viscera of the deceased has been sent for a post mortem examination. Mr Kundu said a case under Sections 302, 201, and 34, IPC, had been registered. He said the deceased had talked to a girl, with whom he was to get married in November, late in the evening on September 4. The girl was not able to give her statement because she was in a state of shock. |
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Spurned girl stabs lover Dharamsala, September 9 According to a statement by Vasudev, alias Sanju, he had a long relationship with a 19-year-old girl of the same village belonging to an upper caste. Though they wanted to get married, the girl’s parents were against it. The youth said the girl had been insisting that they should elope, but as he was still studying and had not attained adulthood, he did not agree to the girl’s proposal. In the meantime, the parents of the girl arranged her marriage. On September 4, the girl met the youth in the nearby forest and when he refused to change his stance, she stabbed him in the stomach. A profusely bleeding Vasudev was found by two women who were cutting grass nearby. They reported the matter at the Deotsidh police station. A case has been registered. No arrests have so far been made in the case. |
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2 killed as jeep falls into gorge Mandi, September 9 Devi Dass (65) of Nasloh died on the spot while Sonu Thakur, Class X student of the same village, succumbed to his injuries at the local Regional Hospital. Those injured have been identified as Chinta Devi, Lekh Ram Thakur, Chandan Singh, Hem Prabh, Pawan Kumar, Jeevan Lal, Jagdish Kumar and Vipan Kumar. Thakur Kaul Singh, MLA, who saw the jeep falling from his house rushed to the scene of the accident with villagers and rescued the injured. Mr Anil Sharma, Rajya Sabha member, also rushed to the site. An inquiry has been ordered. Onkar Sharma nominated to
HPCC New Delhi, September 9 This was announced today by Congress general secretary Mohsina Kidwai, who is in charge of Himachal Pradesh. Ms Kidwai had last month expanded the PCC and added members to the apex coordination committee to make it “more balanced.” The party has also constituted committees for finalising party’s charge sheet against the Dhumal government and its manifesto. |
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Thakur is
Vice-Chairman, Admn Tribunal Shimla, September 9 Mr Rajinder Singh Negi, Registrar of the tribunal, read out the warrant of appointment issued by the President of India at a function organised on the occasion. Born on September 9, 1946, Mr Thakur got his degree in law from Panjab University. He practised law from 1973 to 1997. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, Mr Roop Singh Thakur ,Forest Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, former Chief Minister, and other
senior officers of the state government, judicial officers and members of the Bar were present on the occasion. |
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Prosecution sanction in AIPL case sought Shimla, September 9 The state government had ordered an inquiry into alleged irregularities in AIPL by the Enforcement Department and the Public Undertaking Committee of the Vidhan Sabha had also recommended a CBI probe into the charges.
PTI |
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Teenager feared drowned Bilaspur, September 9 Sharma belonged to the Baloh area, 25 km from here. |
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