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Saturday,
January 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Dhumal begins 2nd leg of yatra
HP poll: NCP rules out pact
Cong for probe into project trial run
BJP calls
Congress
anti-women
LJP to fight HP
poll alone |
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Lathi charge on HPU campus Health centres lying locked Man gets life term for murdering wife Terrorism: VHP to mobilise villagers 3 killed as car
falls into gorge 8 killed in
bus mishap Vacancies being filled according to norms Patwaris
on relay fast Roerich gallery to have arts school
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Dhumal begins 2nd leg of yatra
Shimla, January 3
After paying obeisance at the temple, he addressed rallies at Sarahan and Rampur in the Congress stronghold. He accused the successive Congress governments of ignoring the area in the matter of development. Those professing a different political ideology were invariably victimised and harassed, and a virtual dictatorship reigned supreme. People were even warned against joining the “vishwas yatra” which did not work, he said. He asked the people to bring to the notice of the government any instance of harassment of any resident by leaders or workers of the Congress. He assured full security to them.
Mr Dhumal took Mr Virbhadra Singh, Leader of the Opposition, to task for making conflicting statements. He said the former Chief Minister demanded that Rampur should be up-graded to a district while he was in Rampur and whenever he went to Rohru he demanded the district status for the area. Such doublespeak would not help him as people had seen through his game.
Referring to the efforts being made by his government to make the state self-reliant, he said work on hydel projects with an aggregate generation capacity of 10,000 MW had been started. The 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Power Project would also start generation this year. He said the 74 identified families affected due to the power project would be provided employment by the NJPC for which necessary directions, had been issued to the corporation. The Chief Minister said all promises made by the government had been fulfilled and the state had achieved new milestones in various fields. The government had twice increased the support price of apple, besides providing subsidy on fertilisers and pesticides. He said two fruit-based wineries were being set up in the state which would ensure remunerative prices to apple and other fruit growers by ensuring market for their produce on the doorstep. The gross domestic product had increased by over 20 per cent and the per capita income had reached Rs 18,920, and was eight in the country. BJP workers had erected welcome arches all along the route of the yatra which will cover Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan districts over the next week. |
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HP poll: NCP rules out pact Una, January 3 He welcomed the merger of Ekta Manch of Himachal Pradesh led by Lieut-Gen R.S. Dayal (retd), into the NCP and added that the latter had been appointed state unit president of the NCP. He further said the NCP would contest the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh but said the decision on the number of seats would be decided later on. He added that his party would not form an alliance with any political party in the state. Mr Sangma announced the appointment of Mr R.S. Singh as the state general secretary of the NCP. Chaudhary Ved Pal, former Deputy Speaker, Haryana, Mr Sahdev Chaudhary, NCP national secretary, and Mr Gurcharan Singh Dahoor, former MP, were also
present. |
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Cong for probe into project trial run
Shimla, January 3 Addressing a press conference here, he said it was shocking that water was released into the headrace tunnel, an 11 km stretch of which was yet to be made concrete. As the quantity of water was insufficient for the trial run, the spinning lasted for just 30 minutes as against the 15 hours required for a thorough testing. Thus, the trial run was a farce which only endangered the project, he alleged. Mr Kaul Singh said Mr Dhumal was keen to get the project inaugurated by the Prime Minister before election but Mr Yogendra Prasad, former Chairman of the corporation, had said that it would not be possible as a lot of work was yet to be completed. Mr Kaul Singh also demanded a CBI probe into the question paper scam in Himachal Pradesh University and asserted that the Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.D. Sharma, who was involved in the scandal should be sent on leave till the completion of inquiry. Terming the “vishwas yatra” of Mr Dhumal as “vishwasghat yatra”, he said it would be exercise in futility, as he did not enjoy the confidence of his own ministers, who had levelled serious charges of corruption and nepotism against the government, and even his mentor Mr Shanta Kumar, the Union Minister, who had accused him of humiliating him. Referring to the decision to appoint additional deputy commissioners at some places, he said the government had made a mockery of the administrative set-up by such actions. He took exception to the notifying of educational institutions to be opened in 2003-04 in advance by the present government. The action was tantamount to usurping of powers of the legislature which approved the Budget. Replying to a question, he said the Congress would not grant ticket to Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, Speaker, who had betrayed the party to pave the way for the installation of the coalition government in the wake of a hung Assembly. |
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BJP
calls
Congress
anti-women
Shimla, January 3 In a statement here today, said it was the Shanta Kumar government which granted special leave to women for the “karva chauth” festival. But the Virbhadra Singh government which succeeded it, reversed the decision. It was restored only by the Dhumal government. He said it was the Dhumal government which appointed a woman as the Chief Secretary of the state for the first time. |
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LJP to fight HP
poll alone Nurpur, January 3 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the LJP had demanded the dismissal of the Rabri government. He appealed to the Congress to withdraw support to the Rabri government as there was a constitutional breakdown in Bihar. Opposing the recommendations of the Kelkar Commission, Mr Paswan said taxing agricultural income was irrational. The LJP president pointed out that his party would not forge any poll alliance with any political party in the ensuing Assembly election in Himachal Pradesh and field its own candidates on the issues of development and corruption. |
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Lathi charge on HPU campus Shimla, January 3 As many as 28 SFI activists were taken into custody in connection with the incident. However, the police denied that there was any lathi charge and maintained that there was a minor scuffle as the students resisted arrest. A press photographer, S. Sabu, was also beaten up by the police and his camera damaged. Those arrested include Neeraj Basu, Manoj Chandel and Sher Singh, who were released on bail only yesterday. The police said that there were six girls among those arrested. While the federation alleged that the police resorted to a lathi charge on its workers who were taking out a peaceful procession on the campus to press their demand for a CBI inquiry into the question paper scam and a judicial probe into the police lathi charge on its activists earlier this week, the police denied the charge and said the protesters had to be removed forcibly after they turned violent and started throwing stones on policemen. A constable was injured in the stone-throwing. Meanwhile, Mr Tikender Singh Panwar, a senior SFI leader, alleged that the police had arrested 50 SFI activists, including all four members of the Students Central Association. He denied the police charge of stone-throwing and added that their peaceful procession faced police brutality for the second time in succession. Mrs Vidya Stokes, Pradesh Congress Committee chief, has condemned the lathi charge. The state committee of the Democratic Youth Federation of India also condemned the lathi charge and police excesses from December 26 onwards on the campus. Meanwhile, various elected unions and associations of teachers, officers, non-teaching employees and technical and Class IV employees of the university have joined hands to protest against the way the administration is being run by the Vice-Chancellor. They alleged that the squandering of public money in unproductive expenses and the absence of the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar for a long time had caused irreparable loss to the institution. The unions unanimously resolved that the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar should be present on the campus at any cost and Section 144 be lifted immediately. |
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Health centres lying locked Tissa (Chamba), January 3 Innocent and deprived of education, residents of these pockets are afraid of adopting the path of agitation or approaching the authorities, despite the fact that they are facing serious health hazards. Most of the health sub-centres here are either found locked or are facing a dearth of staff. According to residents of these difficult areas of Churah sub-division in the district, at least six health institutions have been locked following the absence of staff. As a sequel, people are facing medicare problems. Moreover, this area is the worst-affected by tuberculosis. People of these areas have to carry patients on their backs or in palanquin for miles to reach the Tissa health centre or the Salooni health centre. Though the authorities admit to a dearth of staff in the health sub-centres, yet they express their helplessness in this regard. At a public meeting at Chowari township of Chamba district last month, Mr Shanta Kumar, Union Minister for Rural Development, had admitted that there were 24 government health institutions in Chamba district which were facing closure due to a shortage of doctors and other paramedical staff. |
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Man gets life term for murdering wife Bilaspur, January 3 Earlier, District Public Prosecutor R.R. Mastana told the court that Kamlesh Kumari was married to Satish Kumar in 1986 but he used to beat her regularly after getting drunk. Satish Kumar, who was employed as a senior assistant in the District Institute of Educational Training at Jukhala near here, went home on October 22 and after getting drunk strangled her with her “dupatta”. The prosecution represented 18 witnesses in the case. |
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Terrorism:
VHP to mobilise villagers Nadaun (Hamirpur), January 3 Stating this here last evening Mr Sohan Singh, zonal secretary of the VHP, said time had come when all should join hands to fail the attempts of terrorists. He demanded that Pakistan should be declared a terrorist state. |
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3 killed as car
falls into gorge Shimla, January 3 The deceased have been identified as Ram Krishan and Prem Prashar. The injured, Gopal , has been admitted to the local Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital. |
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8 killed in bus mishap
Shimla, January 3 The bus (HP-02-1572) was ferrying workers after shift duty. There were about 25 workers in the bus at the time of the mishap. The driver and conductor were among those killed. While four persons died on the spot, four others succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital. The deceased have been identified as Dhani Ram, Junior
Engineer with the JVC, Bohi Lal, rock driller from Nepal, Gopal Chand, helper from Bihar, Bir Chand, resident of Nichar village, Bhagat Ram, conductor, Tilak Raj, driver, Sen Ram, resident of Rohru, and Somnath Kashyap. The injured have been admitted to the Civil Hospital at
Bhabhanagar. |
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Vacancies being filled according to norms Chamba, January 3 Talking to this correspondent over the telephone, the Chairman, Mr Katwal, made it clear that whatever the vacancies fell within the purview of the board were being notified through all employment exchanges of Himachal Pradesh, ‘Giriraj’ a government weekly newspaper brought out by the Information and Public Relations Department, All India Radio, by displaying vacancies on the office notice board and other registered agencies of the board. Mr Katwal said since the prescribed forms for the posts were priced publications, sales agents had been appointed by the board at different towns of Himachal Pradesh. Expressing concern over the misinformation being disseminated by media about the functioning of the board. Mr Katwal blamed certain officials and persons of spreading wrong information. |
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Patwaris on relay fast Nahan, January 3 In a press note issued here, Mr Kaushal Dutt Sharma, president, Action
Committee, said kanoongos and patwaris of the district would remain on leave on January 7 and take out a procession here. He said if the demands already accepted by the government were not implemented at the earliest, the association would go on an indefinite strike. |
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Roerich gallery to have arts school Kulu, January 3 |
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