 |
|
Monday,
August 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Azad to broker peace between Subordinate services board may not be wound up Survey on to tackle water scarcity Bumper apple crop delights growers Minjar Fair damp squib, says association |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Highway blocked as truck crushes hawker Body of cop killed in encounter found Camp to promote Sanskrit
|
|
Azad to broker peace between CM, Stokes Shimla, August 17 Mr Gulam Nabi Azad, who looks after party affairs in Himachal Pradesh, is visiting the state capital on August 19 to take stock of the situation. His aim would be to remove the irritants responsible for the widening gulf between the rival factions which has created an impression that the government and the party were not working in unison. While both Mr Virbhadra Singh and Ms Stokes have been publicly claiming that the party and the government have been working in close coordination, the ground realities are different. The controversy sparked off by the decision of the PCC to send its own team to take stock of the situation in the wake of the Puliah Nullah cloudburst in Kulu, the repeated demands of the Virbhadra Singh camp for enforcement of the one-man-one-post principle and the inordinate delay in the appointments of chairpersons of various boards and corporations only indicate that all is not well with the party. The resignations tendered by two ministers — Mr Chander Kumar and Mr Singhi Ram — from the party posts on the advice of Mr Virbhadra Singh is being seen as a ploy to hasten the process of organisational restructuring. At present, seven ministers, including Mr G.S. Bali, Mr Singhi Ram and Mr Chander Kumar, whose resignations were yet to accepted, are holding party posts. The real target of the one-man-one-post drive is Ms Stokes, who is Minister for Power in the Cabinet. However, she has left the matter to the high command. She also says that the decision whether or not to accept the resignations will be taken in consultations with the high command. So far, she has received the resignation of only Mr G.S. Bali, who is one of the general secretaries of the PCC. In the emerging situation, the restructuring of the organisation will have to take place sooner or later. As the Congress has already decided to support any move to restrict the size of the Cabinet, the expansion of the ministry may not be possible in the state. However, those aspiring for ministerial berths could be accommodated in the party organisation in this restructuring exercise. All these issues are likely to be addressed during the visit of Mr Azad. The high command is keen to see the government and the party work unitedly and repeat the performance of the Assembly elections in the Lok Sabha poll, which were not far away. |
|
Anita Verma expresses faith in CM’s leadership Hamirpur, August 17 Ms Verma had reportedly blasted the top leaders of the state for ignoring the interests of Hamirpur. Ms Verma said there was no question of shifting or closing the office of the HP Subordinate Services Selection Board at Hamirpur. She said it was wrong to say that Hamirpur was getting stepmotherly treatment at the hands of the state government. She said Rs 10 crore had been sanctioned for various development projects in the district. |
|
Subordinate
services board may not be wound up Hamirpur, August 17 Sources said the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, had taken a serious note of the adverse publicity the government was getting after the decision of the state government to scrap one post of a member of the board and to shift the work of various Class III posts from the board to the HP Public Service Commission. The Congress leaders and workers of the district had expressed concern over the reported move of the state government and they had aired their grievances in the presence of the HP Congress chief, Ms Vidya Stokes, at a party meeting held here on August 14. The sources said the Chief Minister had decided to strengthen the board and to make the recruitment process transparent so that a message was given to the people of the lower hill areas in general and Hamirpur district in particular that the Congress government in the state was their friend and not a foe as alleged by the BJP and others. |
|
|
Survey on to tackle water scarcity Shimla, August 17 The survey will cover every human habitation to assess the requirement of water according to the norms and for this purpose the cattle population would also be taken into account. It will also identify ponds, bowlies, canals and local water collection points and assess the adequacy factor from the existing sources and the possibility of tapping new ones. Besides taking care of rural habitations, the survey will also cover schools, anganwaris, health institutions, panchayat institutions and market places to work out the requirement of water so that a strategy could be drawn up to ensure adequate availability of water in the years to come. The people will be consulted and the public representatives, voluntary organisations and the panchayats and local bodies will also be associated with the survey to know the ground realities. They will also be involved in planning of water supply schemes. Only persons familiar with the local habitations will be made members of the survey groups. The members of the groups, including the engineers of the Irrigation and Public Health Department, will be given training to ensure that the exercise was carried out in a systematic and proper manner. The outcome of the survey will enable the government to find a permanent solution to the perennial problem of water scarcity in certain areas of the state. |
|
|
Bumper apple crop delights growers Shimla, August 17 Production is set to cross the four lakh tonne mark for the first time. The highest output recorded earlier is 3.94 lakh tonnes in 1988 and 3.95 lakh tonnes in 1998. A bumper crop usually leads to a glut in the market and prices come crashing down in the first week of the season. This year, the season is into the fourth week and the prices in the Delhi market, where almost 80 per cent of the state’s produce is disposed of, are higher than last year. The royal delicious variety is fetching Rs 510 per box as against Rs 405 per box last season. The rates of other varieties like rich-e-red and red delicious are also higher by between Rs 50 and Rs 80 per box compared to last year. The main reason for the higher prices is that the quality of fruit is better than last year, when drought affected the size, colour and juice content. The weather conditions have remained favourable all through. The apple belt has received good snow, considered white manure for orchards, during winter after a gap of almost 10 years. There have been periodic rains during summer and monsoon had arrived in time. The crop has been delayed by one or two weeks due to the onset of the rains in the mid-hills, which account for the bulk of the produce. As such, there is no glut in the market so far. Market trends over the past two seasons have made it clear that imported apples pose no threat to local produce. The craze for foreign apples is over now, within three years after restrictions on imports were lifted under the WTO agreement. Growers are facing problems in transporting their produce to the market because of shortage of trucks and blockade of link roads in the Rampur, Rohru and Chopal areas by landslips. With rains receding over the past one week, the situation is improving. Trucks from the neighbouring states have started reaching the interior areas. About 5,500 trucks of apples have been exported out of the state. The total number of apple boxes exported is about 31 lakh. Harvesting in the mid-hill areas is in full swing and the bulk of the produce will reach the market over the next three weeks. There is a possibility of decline in prices. Mr Singhi Ram, Food and Civil Supplies Minister, has been holding meetings at various places to oversee transportation arrangements. He announced today that all 140 procurement centres in the district would be made functional by Monday evening. |
|
Minjar Fair damp squib, says association Chamba, August 17 Criticising the management of the fair, Mr D.N. Pardesi, president of the Association, alleged that barring he procession at the fair, which was quite disciplined and orderly, all other performances were poorly arranged and had come in for a lot of flak because of which the fair proved to be a damp squib. Mr Pardesi said at the first meeting of eminent local residents, convened by the Deputy Commissioner in connection with the fair, it was decided that this year Chowgan would be saved from dirt and filth on the eighth day of the fair on August 3 and all shops and khokas would be removed. This decision was, however, not adhered to in letter and in spirit. Mr Pardesi pointed out that various subcommittees comprising local residents and government officials had been constituted by the Minjar Fair Celebration Committee for satisfactory arrangements at the fair, but the exercise proved to be a farce. Quoting an instance, he said the precious shawls and caps, which should have been presented exclusively to the chief guest and other guests from outside, were presented to local ministers and legislators who were themselves hosts in the fair. Another extravagant decision was to hire a Punjabi pop singer, Daler Mehndi, who was paid lakhs of rupees. He dictated his terms at the eleventh hours about not telecasting his concert on the local cable television channel. Mr Pardesi flayed the local administration for selling the entire Chowgan number one to a local party who earned heavy profits by reselling it to individual shopkeepers.
|
|
Highway
blocked as truck crushes hawker Kangra, August 17 Mr O.P. Jamwal, Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the truck had crushed 17-year-old Suman to death near the petrol pump at Birta at 8.30 am. Mr Jamwal said the truck driver had fled after the accident. The body, beheaded in the accident lay in a pool of blood on the road for more than three hours. Hundreds of commuter, on both sides of the highway got stranded due to the blockade. The local MLA, Mr Surender Kaur, rushed to the spot to pacify the mob. Mr Kaku denied the allegation that the local administration had reached the spot late. The blockade was removed at noon when protesters were informed that the accused driver had been arrested and the truck had been impounded. An ex-gratia relief of Rs 10,000 was given to next of the kin of the victim. The mob then allowed the police to take away the body for a post-mortem examination. According to the locals the victim, Suman who had lost his father as a child, was putting up with his maternal uncle at Gurkhari and studying in class IX. A scholarship holder, Suman sustained his education by selling newspapers every morning. According to the DSP, Mr Jamwal, the truck (HP-12-3655) involved in the accident was going out of the town when it crushed to death Suman who had been going in the same direction on his bicycle. The driver left the vehicle at Gaggal, 8 km from here, and later surrendered at the Ranital police post. The driver, Hargobind Singh, had reportedly confessed to the crime. The trick has been impounded from Gaggal. The police has registered a case and started investigation. |
|
Body of cop killed in encounter found Chamba, August 17 Disclosing this here this afternoon, the Chamba SP said SPO Dhiyan Singh had pinpointed the spot where the constable was killed and the SPO wounded in an encounter with militants on August 8. The SP said it might take about 12 hours for the search party to reach the road head. The body would be handed to the next of the kin of the constable after post-mortem examination. He would be cremated with state honours. |
|
|
Camp to promote Sanskrit Kangra, August 17 Mr Surender Kumar Sharma, Principal MCM DAV and a Sanskrit Scholar, Chief Guest on the occasion, said that Sanskrit should be adopted as day to day language and urged the UGC to provide Sanskrit trainers in all colleges to nourish the language. More than 150 students participated in the camp which was organised by the Sanskrit Department of the DAV College in collaboration with the Sanskrit Bharti. Function comprising songs question answer session, skits and group and individual songs in Sanskrit language.
|
|
|
Dhumal
rounds up ‘jan jagran’ tour Hamirpur, August 17 Giving a clarion call to the people to vote for the BJP to make Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee the Prime Minister, he said the Congress had lost its Indian character and the people would not tolerate Ms Sonia Gandhi as their leader due to her foreign origin. |
|
|
Dissolution
of civic body decried Shimla, August 17 Mr Ganesh Dut, a spokesperson of the party, blamed the Congress government for toppling elected bodies. He said that all nine Councillors of the dissolved body were of the BJP. The government action was politically motivated, he alleged. |
|
Tension
in college Dharamsala, August 17 According to sources, some wall writings of the ABVP were found crossed and according to Mr Karan Mehta, campus president, some ACS activists did it but president of the ACS Atul Bhardwaj denied it and counter alleged that their wall were defaced by ABVP activists. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
