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Sunday,
July 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Smuggling
worries liquor contractors Amarinder
told to appear before court Power
board asked to work out reforms Reassessment
of aid to Chamera oustees starts |
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Administration’s
e-governance project lauded Bagchhal
bridge not too far now Havildar
Rana saves two from drowning Moga
youth commits suicide 2
bridges restored in cloudburst-hit area 
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Smuggling
worries liquor contractors Palampur, July 19 Because of high price of liquor in Kangra and adjoining districts, the Liquor mafia has expanded its network here. The State is losing Rs 60 to Rs 80 on the sale of one bottle of smuggled liquor in the state, in the form of duties. In Punjab and Haryana a bottle of liquor is cheaper by Rs 60 to Rs 80 compared to one in Himachal. Smugglers buy liquor from these states and sell it in Himachal, where there are no checks. For the past two years the liquor shops in Himachal were auctioned at very high price. The local contractors therefore have no choice but to sell their goods at higher rates. In the prevailing circumstances it has become difficult for them to compete with the adjoining states where liquor is cheaper. Last week local wine contractor Surinder Rana received serious injuries when he was attacked by a group of smugglers near
Paror. He was admitted to local civil hospital in a serious condition. Rana was waiting for the arrival of a tempo carrying smuggled liquor. All of a sudden a group of smugglers attacked him with iron rods and other
weapons. Police has registered a case but no arrest has been made. Mr Onkar Rana, a wine contractor and member of the State Liquor Contractors Association held the government responsible for the smuggling of liquor in the state. Talking to newsmen here today he said in the absence of co-operation from the police and the Excise Department the smugglers have extended their network and business in Kangra. He said they were not getting any assistance from the Police and Excise Department for checking smuggling. He said smuggling of liquor had put them in financial crisis and also caused huge loss to the state exchequer in the past three years. |
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Amarinder
told to appear before court Shimla, July 19 In reply to the application filed, the complainant has objected to the exemption on the ground that no exemption can be granted from personal appearance till charges are framed against the accused. This application has also been listed for argument on September 6. The court after hearing the parties directed the counsels appearing for the accused to produce them before the court on the next date of hearing. In another criminal defamation complaint filed against Congress spokesman Anand Sharma, exemption from personal appearance to Mr Sharma was allowed for today and he was also directed to appear before the court on September 6. In these complaints Mr Dhumal had alleged that by issuing defamatory statements in the media all three Congress leaders had tarnished his political and social image. Mr Dhumal was today present in the court. |
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Power board asked to work out reforms Shimla, July 19 The commission emphasised that debt restructuring was essential to reduce the burden on consumers but it would also benefit the company. There was a corporate debt-restructuring group of financial institutions, which could be approached in this regard. The controversial supplementary power purchase agreement signed on February 28,2003 was stayed by the commission as it contravened the provisions of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act which lays down that all issues pertaining to tariff, including the purchase of power from independent power producers, would be decided by the commission. The supplementary PPA was signed bypassing the commission. The PPA had become controversial as under it the board was required to purchase power at Rs 3.35 per unit, whereas after selling it the return would be only Rs 2.20 per unit. The board would have incurred a loss of about Rs 125 crore annually. The commission has also ordered the J.P. Industries, to file the financial package as approved by the Central Electricity Authority before the commission within 15 days of its approval for orders. It vacated the stay on the operation of the supplementary PPA without prejudice to its final decision with regard to its validity and legality. The company had pleaded for the vacation of stay on the ground that it was unable to discharge its debt service obligations because of the stay order. The board had received 346 million units of energy from the Baspa project and the revenue by sale there of but the company was not receiving anything and it owed Rs 60 crore to financial institutions. The company gave an undertaking to that financial package as approved by the Central Electricity Authority will be filed before the commission for approval. |
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Reassessment
of aid to Chamera oustees starts Chamba, July 19 Addressing mediapersons here today Mrs Asha Kumari, Education Minister, and also the Chairperson of a state-level high-powered committee constituted by the state government to reassess the financial package of the Chamera oustees, alleged that earlier when the lists of the ousted families were prepared by the relief committee of the previous BJP-government, no transparency was observed and the claims and objections of the genuine ousted families were not heeded to properly. She warned that those families, among the already identified list of 192 families of Chamera (Stage-I) and 120 families of Chamera (Stage-II) which had been enrolled wrongly, would be deleted after a proper verification and screening from the revenue records. Punitive action would also be taken against those ousted families who had politically
maneuver to get themselves enrolled in the lists so as to get the benefit twice through underhand methods, the Education Minister said. A meeting of the new constituted committee on Chamera oustees was also held today under her chairmanship which was attended by the committee members, including Deputy Commissioner of Chamba, Mr Rahul Anand, a representative of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), the General Manager, Chamera Stage-I, Mr K.P. Singh, and the General Manager of Chamera Stage-II, Mr Parminder Singh. The minister said the work of reassessing the previous financial package had been started afresh from today and directed the revenue authorities to reassess the lists of genuine ousted families of the Chamera Project. She directed the revenue officials to go to the field for spot reassessment. The minister asked the district authorities to compile the oustees’ list as early as possible on the basis of 1992 cut-off date. As was evident from the compensation approved by the NHPC for each affected ousted family Rs 3 crore for Chamera project Stage-I and Rs 2.50 crore for Chamera project Stage-II, the financial package would be settled accordingly on or before September 30, and the NHPC was bound to pay the approved rate of financial package each family, the minister vehemently asserted. Earlier, a deputation of the Chamera oustees met the Education Minister and apprised her of the problems being faced by them for the past more than 10 years. The Chamera oustees have been on a strike in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Chamba for the last two weeks. |
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Administration’s e-governance project lauded Dharamsala, July 19 Mr Prabodh Saxena, Deputy Commissioner, said that e-governance provided efficiency, speed and transparency in working and people of Dharamsala would benefit from it. He said IT experts from firms like Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Wipro and ICICI Infotech had come to Dharamsala to study the project. Mr Saxena said that under the project, the driving licences, registration of vehicles, recording of land deeds and records pertaining to arms licences, passport applications etc. were being handled through computers. The Deputy Commissioner said that the team was informed that soon a touch screen information kiosk would be set up at the Centre so that any person can get information on his grievance, driving licence, arms licence, social welfare, pension or passport application. |
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Bagchhal
bridge not too far now Bilaspur, July 19 He told newsmen at Circuit House here today that the foundation stone of this long-sought project would soon be laid by the Chief Minister. The project will be financed by NABARD. The minister said that a multipurpose sports complex at Luhanu in Bilaspur would be developed as a national-level facility, as the CM had agreed to give funds for the completion of the indoor gymnasium on the premises. |
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Havildar
Rana saves two from drowning Hamirpur, July 19 The havildar had gone to a temple of Baba Mauni near Alampur when he heard shrieks from the Beas, flowing nearby. He reached the spot and jumped into the river. He swam across the river along with two persons, Jeevan Singh and Ram Kishan. Jeevan Singh of Alampur village was reportedly attacked by four dogs and
in order to save his life, he rushed towards the river, but got caught in a whirlpool. Ram Kishan of Palahi village, who was nearby jumped into the river to save Jeevan Singh. However, he too got caught in the whirlpool. Jeevan Singh and Ram Kishan have been admitted to Sujanpur Tihra Hospital, where they are stated to be progressing. The local people have praised the valiant role of Havildar Praveen Rana and have urged the state government to reward him suitably. |
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Moga youth commits suicide Dharamsala, July 19 According to the police, two youths Vikramjit Singh and Hakam Singh, along with a girl Raj, had come to the Chamunda temple and stayed for the night at the Yatri Sadan. In the morning while Hakam Singh and Raj were found missing, the sadan employees found Vikramjit Singh dead in the room. A suicide note written in Punjabi was found near the body of the deceased in which he had referred to his love affair with a girl Sukhdeep. The body was sent to Dr
R.P. Medical College Hospital, here for post mortem. The deceased’s family at Moga has been informed and a case has been registered. |
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2 bridges restored in cloudburst-hit area Shimla, July 19 One body was recovered yesterday while an injured person succumbed to his injuries in the IGMC hospital, here. Deputy Commissioner, Kulu, R.D. Nazeem, said a body was recovered near Rauli, 2 km from Pulia Nallah. He said with the restoration of the bridge at Pulia Nallah, the worst-affected areas in the valley were approachable by road. About 450 ITBP jawans, assisted by 100 police jawans and home guard volunteers were engaged in rescue operations. |
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Leopard rescued Nurpur, July 19 The Divisional Forest Officer, Nurpur, Dr Suresh Kumar, received a telephone call early Thursday that a leopard had been trapped in an orchard. Wildlife officials from the Gopalpur zoo in Kangra district, veterinarians from Palampur and a police squad rescued the animal. |
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Minjar fair
from July 27 Chamba, July 19 Deputy Commissioner Rahul Anand told that preparations for celebrating the fair in a colourful and tradition style had commenced.
— UNI |
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