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Wednesday,
December 4, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Sonia’s Shimla rally on Dec 11 Virbhadra gets bail in khair wood case Fundless, PWD halts works
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Illegal
construction in wildlife sanctuary 20 houses gutted Teachers condemn sports policy 5 killed as jeep falls into gorge Help to disabled assured ‘Special’ kids hold rally School’s annual function
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Sonia’s Shimla rally on Dec 11 Shimla, December 3 This will be the third rally of Ms Gandhi in the state in recent months. The earlier two were held at Shahpur and Mandi. The rally is significant in view of the fact that Shilaroo falls in
Theog, the constituency of Ms Vidya Stokes, Pradesh Congress chief Ms Gandhi is likely to address more rallies as part of the parties programme to gear up workers for the ensuing assembly poll. Ms Viplove Thakur, general secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee, said a large number of people from the districts of
Sirmaur, Solan, Bilaspur and Kinnaur, besides Shimla, will participate in the rally. She hailed the deferment of the delimitation process and said the party had been opposed to changes in the Assembly constituencies on poll eve. The exercise only brought to the fore the incessant infighting in the ruling BJP. Replying to a question she said there was no point in creating new districts till the process of delimitation was over. In fact, the commission had asked the state not to alter the boundaries of the administrative units till the delimitation process was completed, following which the move to carve out new districts was dropped. She termed the recent visit of the Prime Minister, Mr
A.B. Vajpayee, to the state as “disappointing”. He failed to announce any economic package or other measures to help the state tide over the financial crisis. Ms Thakur expressed concern over the failure of the government to release funds for the year 2002-03 under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna as a result of which work on the construction of roads had come to a standstill. |
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Randhir dares Thakur again Shimla, December 3 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the Congress leader had tried to divert attention from the issue by raising other matters. He said Mr Thakur had secured five arms licences between 1985 and 1995 and he owed an explanation to the people what he did with so many weapons. He said Mr Thakur should also come clean on his links with a person dealing in arms illegally who had been moving around in his official car when he was a minister. This was important because the person concerned was an accused under TADA for his suspected links with terrorists. Regarding the deferment of delimitation, Mr Sharma said it was a decision of the commission, with which the government had nothing to do. |
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Cong workers elated Hamirpur, December 3 While there were murmurs of uncertainty in the BJP camp, the Congress camp was jubilant. At many places, Congress workers greeted each other and distributed sweets and ladoos. Anita Verma, vice-president, Himachal Congress Committee, termed this decision as the defeat of the Chief Minister and demanded his resignation. Mukesh Kumar, the district secretary, CPI, and Mr Bishan Dutt Lakhanpal, general secretary, Himachal Jan Morcha, said the decision was a welcome step, but late. |
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Virbhadra gets bail in khair wood case Shimla, December 3 Bail was granted to Mr Virbhadra Singh and the then Deputy Secretary (Forests), Mr Geeta Ram, and a partner in the Sagar Katha Udyog, Mr Dinesh, on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each. The court accepted the request of the fourth accused in the case, former Chief Secretary
O.P. Yadav, for exemption from personal appearance on medical grounds for two weeks. The judge fixed the next date of hearing for January 4.
PTI |
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Fundless, PWD halts works Palampur, December 3 Construction work on most projects taken up by the PWD in the past two years have come to a grinding halt as the department has no funds for clearing bills of contractor. Various centrally sponsored projects like the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sarak Yojana have been adversely affected as the state government has failed to issue the letter of credit for these projects. These projects are fully funded by the Union Government and funds are always sent in advance to the state government. It is surprising that the payments of contractors have been withheld. Though the state government claims there is no shortage of funds, official sources reveal that over 200 contractors in Palampur circle of the PWD alone are awaiting payments. The situation in Palampur, Dharamsala, Kangra and Baijnath divisions of PWD is no better where various contractors daily come to the offices of Executive Engineers and go back disappointed. In the absence of funds, various contractors have either stopped or slowed down the construction work. There are a number of projects for which the Chief Minister himself had laid the foundation stones. Various announcements made by the Chief Minister for repair of roads in the Thural, Sulah, Rajgir and Baijnath constituencies could not be implemented for want of funds. In various places, angry residents have either removed or damaged the foundation stone plates. The nexus between PWD officials and contractors has become a matter of concern. In a number of cases, contracts were given out of turn to influential contractors on high rates. Senior PWD officers are worried over the deteriorating standards of construction. |
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Illegal
construction in wildlife sanctuary Dalhousie, December 3 Raising of structures inside the sanctuary area is violative of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The eco-system sanctuary has been affected by grazing, sporadic road constructions, commercial exploitation of forests and clandestine hunting. The sanctuary having deodar forest in an area of 20 sq. km. (2,728 hectares), is located at altitudes ranging from 1950 to 2850 metres. Musk deer, barking deer, black bear, leopard, goral, serow, koklas, and pheasants such as monal, koklas, kaleej and chukor can be seen in the sanctuary. Besides, migratory birds of the wetland species also visit the Khajjiar Lake situated amidst a bald glade of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is being looked after by a divisional forest officer (DFO) based at Chamba. Specialists from the School for Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, have suggested revival of the lake on an integrated watershed basis. |
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20 houses gutted Chamba, December 3 According to Mr Ajay Yadav, Superintendent of Police, Chamba, over 30 families who were rendered homeless have shifted to nearby hamlets. The locals tried their best to douse the flames but were not able to do much as the houses were made of wood. No loss of life has, however, been reported, he said. The SP informed that officials of the Bharmour administration, who had rushed to the site to carry out rescue and relief operations and to assess the losses caused by the fire, had not yet returned to Bharmour because this belt was a mountainous terrain. As per initial estimates, the loss was being estimated to be in lakhs of rupees. The exact losses would be know once the officials return to Bharmour this evening. The police has registered a case and is investigating into the cause of the fire. |
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Teachers condemn sports policy Bilaspur, December 3 Addressing the rally, speakers criticised the government’s sports policy, saying that the government had made no prevision for funds for annual school tournaments. The HP State Science Teachers Union and HP Government Teachers Union also expressed their solidarity with the agitating unions. Their demands include better pay scales, promotion as Block Education Officers, and introduction of physical education as elective subject from Class VI. |
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5 killed as jeep falls into gorge Shimla, December 3 |
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Help to disabled assured Nahan, December 3 He said a sum of Rs 27 lakh was spent in Sirmaur district for providing assistance to 1,135 disabled persons. He said rehabilitation along with education and employment opportunities was the main consideration for these persons. District Welfare Officer, R.L. Sharma said 2,217 such persons were being provided free travelling facility in HRTC buses and as many as 160 were being given scholarship. |
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‘Special’ kids hold rally Shimla, December 3 The rally was flagged off from Scandal Point by Mr A.N. Sharma, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation. It was received by Mr Lalji Singh, secretary to the Governor. Mr Lalji Singh exhorted the people to come forward to help the disabled and the mentally challenged children. He said such children needed the help of every section of society, for which awareness should be brought about among the masses. School’s annual function Parwanoo, December 3 The school playground was the venue for “Sanskriti — a celebration of Indian dances” Mr J.P. Nadda, Health Minister of Himachal Pradesh, was the chief guest. Mr H.D.S. Malhotra, chairman of Eicher School, welcomed the guests. Principal Shalini Kashyap read out the annual report. The chief guest appreciated the efforts of the school in all directions of overall development of children. The function took off with “mangalam”, an invocation to five natural elements. “Himachali nritya” and “pahari gunj” were also well appreciated by the audience. |
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