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Thursday,
January 2, 2003, Chandigarh, India
  
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Cong’s
‘soft’ policy on terror to be poll issue 1 lakh
sans photo ID cards in Hamirpur Construction
work: Cong seeks probe by experts Work on
Triund road begins Himotkarsh
Parishad announces awards |
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SFI
workers burn CM’s effigy Shanta’s
OSD hurt in mishap Patwaris
to boycott farm census work Farm
graduates meet Dhumal Don’t
close down press, workers urge Jaitley
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Cong’s ‘soft’ policy
on terror to be poll issue Shimla, January 1 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the ideology and ideological personality of a party did not change from state to state, though local issues, which came into sharp focus, varied. He said the party had been pursuing the philosophy of cultural nationalism for the past several years and there was no conflict over it. The Congress had been adopting a “soft” approach on terrorism as was evident from the fact that the 14 states where it was in power had not implemented the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Terrorists were being released and the Special Operations Group had been merged into the police in Jammu and Kashmir where the Congress was a partner in the coalition. All this was indicative of the “soft” approach of the party on the sensitive issue concerning the security and integrity of the country. The BJP would force an aggressive debate on the performance of the Dhumal government over the past five years and the non-performance of successive Congress governments which ruled the state for 47 years. The performance of the Congress governments in other states would also come into focus. The starvation deaths in Rajasthan and some other Congress-ruled states in an era when the country was surplus in foodgrains had much to do with malfunctioning of government. Some Congress governments in states like Madhya Pradesh had become symbols of non-performance. Further, Centre-state relations would be a big issue as the Vajpayee government’s Himachal-friendly attitude had helped the hill state secure special assistance from the Centre, besides speeding up development. The focus of development had been on infrastructural development which included roads, drinking water and telecommunications. Regarding the selection of party candidates, he said there was no blanket policy to deny or grant the party ticket to sitting legislators. The main considerations would be commitment, loyally, discipline, performance, image and the winning prospects for allotting the party ticket. Replying to a question, he said the party would not allow the Congress to divert attention from the main issues and it was determined to force its own agenda to but the Opposition on the defensive. The Congress attempted this in Gujarat but failed miserably. Earlier, Mr Jaitley held a series of meetings with senior party leaders to draw up the party’s election strategy. He said responsibilities concerning the election campaign would be decentralised and a number of committees would be set up in this connection. |
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1 lakh sans photo ID cards in Hamirpur Hamirpur, January 1 There are 3,04,838 voters in the district, of which only 2,05,521 have prepared their photo identity cards. These include 1,39,577 voters with old photo cards and 65,944 with new ones. The cards of thousands of voters have allegedly been misplaced or still not delivered to them. A survey conducted by The Tribune reveals that the Nadaunta Assembly segment tops list with 44,233 photo identity cards. Mewa comes second with 43,245, followed by Hamirpur with 39,641, Bamsan, 39,368 and Nadaun 39,034. The survey also shows that a majority of photo identity cards have been prepared in the areas ruling party leaders. The website of the state Election Department also shows that the names of those having photo identity cards are yet to be displayed in the electoral rolls of the respective Assembly constituencies. The name of Himachal Parliamentary Secretary Urmila Thakur appears both on the electoral roll of the Hiranagar area of Hamirpur town and the list of photo identity cards but the name of her husband, Mr Bhupinder Singh, is missing from the list. The name of BJP dissident leader Narendra Thakur is found in the electoral roll but missing from the list of those having photo identity cards. The guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India make it mandatory that only those having photo identity cards will be able to cast their vote in the next elections. When contacted, Mrs Anuradha Thakur, Deputy Commissioner, admitted that only 67.41 per cent of the electorate in the district possessed photo identity cards. She, however clarified that the Supreme Court had identified 18 other items, like passport, ration card, BPL card, etc to prove their identity during the elections. |
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Construction
work: Cong seeks probe by experts Kangra, January 1 Talking to mediapersons Mr Bali said the state government had on the floor of the Assembly assured that a private construction company had been asked to best material of the mine but violative of the assurance in the Assembly the state government without inviting tenders assigned the job of the Larji project in Kulu district to this company. Mr Bali alleged that the state government had rejected the lease of the
NMDC. Mr Bali said this company had carried out works on tunnels and the dam in violation of the specifications. This had resulted in cracks appearing in the construction works. He demanded that an experts committee comprising of a board of expert engineers consultants of national repute be asked to inquire into the standards of construction of the tunnels and dam and the specifications the company had adhered to. He alleged that the state government was encouraging the quick completion of the works. |
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Work on Triund road begins Dharamsala, January 1 Speaking at the function, Mr Shanta Kumar said the Dhauladhar ranges had great potential for tourists and opening of road link up to Triund would ensure that this picturesque area was opened to foreign and local tourists. He said the Centre has adopted a policy under which virgin areas having tourism potential were get road links so that they become places of tourist attraction and provide employment to the local youths. Mr Shanta Kumar said in the past two months work on two such roads, one linking old Chamunda with road and now Triund had been started at a cost of about Rs 10 crore. Mr Shanta Kumar said till now over Rs 67 lakh had been spent from the MP Local Area Development Fund. Welcoming the chief guest, the Transport Minister, Mr Kishan Kapoor, said all funds for the construction of this road had been provided by the Union Rural Development Ministry. He thanked the Union Minister for liberal financial assistance for various development works in the state. |
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Himotkarsh Parishad announces awards Una, January 1 Stating this, parishad spokesman Vinod Lakhanpal said the awards would be presented by the Himachal Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Thakur Gulab Singh, at the parishad’s annual function to be held in Una on January 19. The awardees include Nanaji Deshmukh, Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, for the Capt Amol Kalia Memorial Award for dedication to the Nation, Trinath Mishra, CRPF DGP (Retd), for the Capt Dalip Singh Memorial Gallantry Award, Dr Naresh Mishra, Professor at MDU, Rohtak, for the LC Katoch Memorial Literary award, Shyam Khosla, journalist and president of the National Union of Journalists, for the Lala Jagat Narayan memorial award in journalism, K.D. Anedna Ashram Cancer Institute, Jaipur, for the Ramesh Chopra Memorial Service to the Humanity Award, Ahmadia Muslim Jamal, Qadian, Punjab, for the Santosh Kanwar Memorial Award. The other awardees are the Amritsar Sewa Samiti, for Dr D. R. Garg Memorial Social Service Award, the Environment Society of Chandigarh for the Rattan Chand Chabha Memorial Award, Capt
G.S. Dhillon, DPS, Dalhousie, for the Savita Goel Memorial Award in education, Samresh
Jung, Commonwealth Games gold medallist for the Vijay Avtar Singh Memorial Sports Award and Swami
Chidanand, chairman, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, for the Sanyukta Chaudhary Memorial Award for the promotion of cultural heritage.
UNI |
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SFI workers
burn CM’s effigy Shimla, January 1 Workers of the federation went round the campus in procession and also held a rally before setting the effigy on fire. The federation is also demanding a judicial inquiry into the lathi charge on its workers and transfer of Additional Superintendent of Police Chander Shekhar. Meanwhile, the Students Central Association of the University has condemned the authorities for not providing proper medical treatment to the injured SFI activists in jail. It protested against the jail authorities and expressed disappointment over the fact that the police could not provide escorts to take them to the hospital for a check-up. So far no medical opinion or proper treatment had been given to the injured students. The office-bearers threatened to go on indefinite fast in jail if the demands of the student’s were not met. |
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Shanta’s OSD
hurt in mishap Kangra, January 1 Kangra Additional District Police chief Santosh Patial said today that Mr Satish Dhar, Officer on Special Duty (Media) with Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar, was injured critically in an accident at Rajiana village on the Pathankot-Mandi highway at 9.30 p.m. last evening when the taxi carrying him was hit by a truck coming from the opposite direction. The taxi remained overturned for half an hour with the injured trapped in it as the truck driver fled after the accident. Dhar was on way to Palampur from here. Mr Satish Dhar, driver of the taxi Dogra Ram and another occupant of the taxi were shifted to local subdivisional hospital here. Mr Dhar has received head injury and multiple fractures of a leg was shifted to Dr R.P. Government Medical College Hospital at Dharmsala at 2 a.m. Mr Dhar was today referred to AIIMS, New Delhi for treatment. He was said to be out of danger. No arrest has been made. |
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Patwaris
to boycott farm census work Shimla, January 1 Mr Roshan Lal Negi, chairman of the Joint Action Committee of Patwaris and
Kanungos, said the committee had been organising dharnas and rallies to express resentment but the government had failed to take any action on its demands. It would also organise relay fast at district headquarters up to January 6. The committee had submitted a 45-joint demand charter to the Chief Minister and later it withdrew some of these at his instance but still nothing was done. The main demands, included increase in promotion quota for Kanungos from 60 to 80 per cent, creation of new posts for land record offices and time-scale promotion after four, nine and 13 years. |
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Farm graduates meet Dhumal Palampur, January 1 The delegation also met the Secretary Agriculture and apprised him that field work was suffering in the absence of adequate technical staff in the department. The delegation expressed concern over the sharp increase in the number of unemployed Agriculture Graduate in the state. At present over 800 Agriculture Graduates in this state are waiting for jobs. In the past five years only 50 Agriculture Graduates were given jobs in the state. |
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Don’t close
down press, workers
urge Jaitley Shimla, January 1 The Chief Minister said the press was earning profit and nearly all its workers belonged to Himachal. He said he had already taken up the matter with the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. Mr Jaitley assured the delegation that he would take up the matter with the government.
PTI |
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Car falls into gorge, 1 dead Chamba, January 1 According to official sources, the deceased has been identified as Omkar Singh. He was driving the car. The injured woman identified as Gurmeet Kaur has been admitted to hospital. The two were coming from Hoshiarpur to Dalhousie.
PTI |
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J. J. Singh takes charge of ARTRAC Shimla, January 1 An alumni of the National Defence Academy, General
J .J. Singh was commissioned in the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment in August, 1964. He has since held various command and staff positions such as Commander of a mountain brigade in Jammu and Kashmir, Military Attache in Algeria, General Officer Commanding of an infantry division and Additional Director-General, Military Operations, during Operation Vijay at the Army headquarters. During the Kargil conflict, General
J. J. Singh was involved in operational planning, besides ensuring operational support to the troops. Prior to taking over as GOC-in-C,
ARTRAC, he was the GOC of Strike Corps. He was awarded the Vishith Seva Medal and the Ati Vishisth Seva Medal. |
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Green cover being axed Chamba, January 1 The Chamba Welfare Association today alleged that in view of the impending Assembly elections, the politicians were pressuring Forest Department officials to allot trees from the demarcated protected forests to woo voters. The association warned the politicians against doing so. |
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Dhumal, Bhan
exchange greetings Shimla, January 1 Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, was the first to call on the Governor and extend greetings to him. |
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Ex-servicemen to meet tomorrow Kulu, January 1 Major Sharma said ex-servicemen would meet in Una on January 3 to decide their strategy for the ensuing Assembly elections. |
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Three held for smuggling liquor Solan, January 1 |
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One held for rape Solan, January 1 |
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