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Saturday,
May 3, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Govt to formulate
policy on hydel projects Nathpa project to be thrown open PM may visit Manali later this month Green cover increasing in HP Storm brings harvesting,
threshing to halt Protest over beating up of girl student |
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Jobless teachers to intensify stir Poppy crop destroyed BJP loses control of five Panchayat Samitis HP to encourage units at Behal Missing girls found Liquor
vend case: remand of 18 extended
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Govt to formulate policy on hydel projects Bharmour (Chamba), May 2 Addressing a news conference at Bharmour hill township, the tribal-divisional headquarters of Chamba district, last night, Mr Virbhadra Singh said Congress government had decided to formulate a policy for the execution of these hydroelectric projects by setting aside the MoUs executed by the BJP-led government. He said the government had also decided to set up a high-powered committee to investigate the MoUs already signed by the previous BJP-led government with regard to the ongoing and proposed hydroelectric projects. This committee would submit its report to the state Cabinet and it would be seen whether the requisite formalities concerning the state’s interests had been fulfilled. Mr Virbhadra Singh stated that the Congress government was keen to start the proposed cement plant at Sikridhar in Chamba district at an estimated cost of about Rs 650 crore with a view to providing direct and indirect employment to nearly 20,000 local people, besides fetching revenue to the state exchequer. He pointed out that the issue of providing jobs to one member of each family of the left-out Ranjit Sagar Dam (Thein Dam) oustee families, belonging to the Dalhousie sub-division in Chamba adjacent to the project commissioning in Pathankot subdivision of Gurdaspur district in Punjab, would be looked into. Expressing his astonishment over recent press reports regarding his health, Mr Singh said that these were imaginary stories. He said he was quite hale and hearty and working for about 18 hours and touring tough regions of Himachal Pradesh by road and on foot too. Replying to question, Mr Virbhadra Singh said that there was no ban on recruitment in the state and appointments were being done in a routine manner. KULU: Mr Virbhadra Singh here on Friday ordered the construction of the third phase of the local Zonal Hospital. The third phase is to be built at a cost of Rs 5.5 crore. He said that the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) had announced Rs 2 crore for this and an amount of Rs 40 lakh had already been released. The Chief Minister said that there was a shortage of female gynaecologists and anaesthetists in the state and the Health Department should chalk out a crash programme to provide free training to the employed and unemployed doctors in these fields. Regarding the financial status of the state and assistance from the Centre, he said that the state governments were not at the mercy of the Union Government and there were procedures and norms for the funding of the states. He hoped that Himachal Pradesh would get its due share. Mr Virbhadra Singh expressed his concern over the “unwise” spending by the previous government, which had put the state under a debt of Rs 15,000 crore. He said that the plan on expenditure this year would be small in size but we would spend more on development. |
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Nathpa project to be thrown open
Shimla, May 2 An official release here today said that a decision in this regard was taken at a meeting held recently between Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Chairman-cum Managing Director (CMD) of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam limited. The Chief Minister, during the meeting, had desired that local residents be given an opportunity to see the project and realise the magnitude of efforts put in for its construction. The project would be open for two days in a week, that is Tuesday and Saturday. Buses would be made available at Nathpa and Jhakri for taking the visitors to the dam site and power house, respectively.
UNI |
| PM may visit Manali later this month Shimla, May 2 He will holiday at his house at Pirni near Manali during the six-day stay tentatively fixed for May 13 to May 18, official sources said here today. No engagements have so far been fixed for Mr Vajpayee during the visit, his 10th after becoming Prime Minister and the second one this year, the sources said. He had toured the state for two days during the Assembly elections in February this year. President A.P.J. Kalam is also likely to visit Shimla in the first week of June but details of the visit were yet to be chalked out, they added.
PTI |
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Green cover increasing in HP Shimla, May 2 The latest biennial report of the Forest Survey of India (FSI) indicates that the turnaround, which came in 1996 when the forest cover registered a marginal increase from 12,501 sq km to 12,521 sq km, has been continuing. The green cover, which stood at 13,082 sq km in December, 1998, swelled to 14,360 sq km in December, 2000, an increase of 1,278 sq km. The area under forest cover rose to 25.79 per cent of the total geographical area of the state, still far less than 66 per cent laid down in the national forest policy for the hills. The substantial increase cannot be attributed entirely due to a change on the ground during the intervening period of two years. It is largely due to the use of advanced digital technology for the interpretation of satellite data on a 1:50,000 scale as against 1:2,50,000 scale possible by the conventional visual interpretation method used in earlier reports. The digital interpretation technology has enabled the FSI to delineate and record forest areas as small as one hectare whereas this limit was 25 hectares in the earlier method. The latest assessment has covered all land measuring more than one hectare, with a tree canopy density in excess 10 per cent, irrespective of the land use and ownership. All perennial woody vegetation, including apple, mango,
neem, peepal, bamboo and tea and coffee plantations, have been treated as “tree.” Thus, the report provides a new base line data for future assessments. The dense forest cover with a tree canopy in excess of 40 per cent has increased from 9,120 sq km to 10,673 sq km, while open forest decreased from 3,962 sq km to 3,931 sq km over the two-year period. The forest and tree cover together accounted for 26.51 per cent of the total area of the state. Interestingly, Shimla district, which had over the years earned notoriety for illicit feelings, still has the highest area of 1,878 sq km (47 per cent) under dense forest. It is followed by Kulu, (1,719 sq km), Chamba (1,652 sq km) and Mandi (1,112 sq km). The state’s forest cover accounted for 1.9 per cent of the country’s total forest cover. |
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Storm brings harvesting,
threshing to halt Shimla, May 2 The tribal areas of the Lahaul Spiti and Pangi were also lashed by severe storm and Chief Minister V.B. Singh had to cancel his visit to Killar in the Pangi valley. The Chief Minister was scheduled to visit Killar had to land at Kulu.Shimla and its surrounding areas were also lashed by storm and winds sweeping the town forced facing people to stay indoors. Foggy conditions prevailed in the region for most past of the day and life was disrupted. PHAGWARA: Duststorm has been blowing in this area since
lastnight, throwing life out of gear. Trees were uprooted, potted plants and kitchen gardens devastated and power supply and telecommunication were also hit. Tree guards and sign boards/hoardings were bent or uprooted. The high velocity storm affected wheat harvesting and threshing operations. |
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Protest over beating up of girl student Hamirpur, May 2 The villagers alleged that the teacher responsible for the incident had earlier also beaten up a number of students for no fault of theirs. One of the girl students had left her studies due to the beating incidents in the school. The villagers have demanded immediate suspension and shifting of the teacher failing which they threatened to hold a road blockade at Batran on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Nadaun police has recorded the statement of the girl who was allegedly beaten up by the teacher. However, Mr Mishra, the teacher, described the charges levelled against him as untrue. He alleged that he was beaten up badly yesterday and some persons snatched valuables from him. The district unit of the HP Government Teachers Union has demanded a high-level probe into the incident. The union has alleged that the teacher was beaten up because he refused to help the locals in matters pertaining to the working of the school. |
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Jobless teachers to intensify stir Palampur, May 2 The two leaders said the written test for posts of trained graduate teacher in the arts, medical and non-medical groups were conducted by the commission in September, 2002, to fill 740 posts. Later the commission declared the results and called the qualified candidates for an interview in October and November, 2002. The commission approved the names of 514 candidates and published the results in leading newspapers. Despite the fact that the proper procedure was followed by the commission the state government was delaying the issuance of their appointment letters. The samiti decided to launch a statewide agitation. It threatened to gherao ministers and MLAs if their appointment letters were not issued soon. |
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Poppy crop destroyed Mandi, May 2 The Commissioner, Customs, Amritsar, Mr R. Bhattachaarya, today visited the valley. Mr Bhattachaarya inspected the operations. Local residents were extending their cooperation in the eradication of the crop. |
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BJP loses control of five Panchayat Samitis Dharamsala, May 2 Fresh elections to Baijnath, Nurpur and Rait Panchayat Samitis have already been held where Congress candidates became chairmen. Election to Dehra Panchayat Samiti was postponed. The no-confidence motion in Fatehpur block was passed on April 30 and fresh elections has been fixed for May 6. According to sources, efforts were on to remove other Panchayat Samiti chairpersons loyal to the BJP. A large share of development funds received from the Centre and state are routes through Panhayat Samitis. It is felt that without having control of Panchayati Raj institutions, the Congress may find it difficult to implement its agenda. As per sources, the Congress already has control of the majority of panchayat pradhans in Kangra. |
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HP to encourage units at Behal Bilaspur, May 2 He said like Gwalthai Industrial area near Bhakra and at Behal near Suhar Ghat would provide employment to youths apart from setting up small and medium units in the Changar area. |
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Missing girls found
Nahan, May 2 According to the police, the 17-year-old and 19-year-old cousin sisters were missing along with Pradeep and Bikram since April 14. After they went missing there was communal tension in the village and both parties had been levelling charges on one another.
OC |
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Liquor vend case: remand of 18 extended Solan, May 2 The police pleaded for their further custody for a thorough probe. |
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1 dead in truck drivers’ quarrel Palampur, May 2 |
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