H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

BJP charge sheet a bundle of lies: Bali
Palampur, March 8
Mr G.S. Bali, Transport Minister and senior Congress leader, dismissed the BJP charge sheet submitted to the Congress, Mr V.S. Kokje, against the Congress. 

Bimla is Himachal BJP Mahila Morcha chief
Shimla, March 8
Mrs Bimla Kashyap, a senior BJP leader, has been nominated president of the state Mahila Morcha of the party. Mrs Urmil Thakur, a former Chief Parliamentary Secretary, has been appointed general secretary of the Mahila Morcha.

BJP election committee  formed
Shimla, March 8
Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, Himachal BJP chief, has constituted a nine-member state election committee of the party.

Women’s role in progress lauded
Shimla, March 8
Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, has lauded the role of women in building society and overall development of the country.

Govt machinery ‘misused’ during Sonia’s roadshow
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, March 8
Senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal today flayed the state government of misusing official machinery during the roadshow of Sonia Gandhi. He said he was writing to the Election Commission of India in this regard.

Talking with reporters here today, he appealed to the HP state electoral officer to look into this complaint and ensure that there was no violation of the code of conduct by the state government. Rajendra Rana, media in-charge, Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat and Vinod Thakur general secretary of the district unit of the BJP were also present.

Mr Dhumal alleged that the entire official machinery was put at the beck and call of the Congress leaders during the roadshow. He said despite this the roadshow was a flop.

He was pained at the statement of the HP Congress chief that the BJP should have approached the Lokayukta before going to the Governor along with its charge sheet against the state government. He reminded Mrs Stokes that there was no Lokayukta in state at present as the former Lokayukta had already joined as Governor of Punjab.

The BJP said he was not in the race for the party ticket for the Hamirpur Lok sabha seat.

However, if the party high command directed him to contest the elections, he would contest and win the seat for the party.

Addressing a party workers’ sammelan at Brahmin village yesterday Mr Dhumal exhorted party workers to go to the masses, and enlighten them about the achievements of the BJP led NDA government at the Centre.

Mr Dhumal highlighted the achievements of the NDA government.

Brig B.D. Dogra, former Chairman of the HP Sainik Welfare Board, S.S.Parmar, IGP (retd) and Virendra Sharma, president of the youth wing of state Lok Jan Shakti Party joined the BJP in the presence of Mr Dhumal.

BJP charge sheet a bundle of lies: Bali
Our Correspondent

Palampur, March 8
Mr G.S. Bali, Transport Minister and senior Congress leader, dismissed the BJP charge sheet submitted to the Congress, Mr V.S. Kokje, against the Congress.

Addressing mediapersons at Dadh, 10 kilometres from here, on Sunday he said the charge sheet filed by the BJP was a bundle of lies. He said BJP leaders had misrepresented facts before the Governor.

Mr Bali said the BJP had no right to level such allegations as it was the BSP which had brought the culture of corruption to the state.

Mr Bali said it was on record that BJP leaders were directly interfering in the administration and they had not spared the constitutional institutions like the H.P. State Service Commission and the Subordinate Services Selection Board. He said the appointment scam in the SSB during the BJP rule was already under scanner and the former Chairman of the board appointed by the BJP government had already been booked by the Vigilance Department.

Mr Bali said the Chief Minister had given special powers to the Vigilance Department to investigate cases of corruption in various government department, including H.P. University and SSB, Hamirpur, where large scale irregularities had been detected in the appointments and postings of senior and junior officers.

Mr Bali alleged that since Parliamentary elections were on hand the BJP was trying to divert the attention of the people of the state from key issues like corruption in high offices during the BJP rule and irregularities in appointments in various government departments and Kangra Central Cooperative Bank.

Bimla is Himachal BJP Mahila Morcha chief
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 8
Mrs Bimla Kashyap, a senior BJP leader, has been nominated president of the state Mahila Morcha of the party.

Mrs Urmil Thakur, a former Chief Parliamentary Secretary, has been appointed general secretary of the Mahila Morcha.

Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, state party President, also nominated Mr Satpal Satti and Mr Ajay Rana, as President and secretary, respectively, of the state BJP Yuva Morcha; Mr Harbans Rana and Mr Dineshh Sen, as president and general secretary, respectively, of the state BJP Kisan Morcha; and Mr Chet Ram Negi and Mr Shravan Kumar, as president and general secretary, respectively, of the state BJP Scheduled Tribes Morcha.

Meanwhile, Mr Kunj Lal, a former minister, and Mr Gobind Thakur, a former state BJP Yuva Morcha president, have been readmitted to the party.

Mr Bhardwaj said the decision to revoke their expulsion was taken in consultation with the Kulu and Naggar BJP mandals and Mr Maheswhar Singh, a former party chief.

Besides, the suspension of Mrs Dhaneshwari Devi, Mr Ram Dayal Sharma, Mr Charan Das, Mr Om Prakash Shashni, Mr Mehar Chand, Mr Bishan Das, Mr Ashwini Mahant, Mr Beg Ram and Mr Gopal Negi has also been revoked in consultation with the Kulu district unit of the party.

BJP election committee formed
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 8
Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, Himachal BJP chief, has constituted a nine-member state election committee of the party.

Headed by him the committee will have Mr Shanta Kumar, a former union minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, a former chief minister, Mr Jai Krishan Sharma, a former party president, Mr Damodar Das, MLA, Mr Chander Sen, general secretary, Mr Dulo Ram, ex-MLA and Mrs Sarveen Chaudhary, a former Parliamentary Secretary, as members. Mr Mohinder Pandey, will be the member secretary.

Women’s role in progress lauded
Tribune Reporters

Shimla, March 8
Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, has lauded the role of women in building society and overall development of the country. 

Presiding over a function in connection with the International Women’s Day organised at the state level in Rani Jhansi Park, here, today, he said that country had taken significant steps towards the empowerment of women and they were becoming an active partner in the development process.

Brown bear cub born in Kufri park
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 8
Hopes of breeding the endangered brown bear in captivity for reintroduction in the wild were raised when a male cub was born recently at the Himalayan Nature Park, Kufri, near here.

It is for the second time that Ramu and Chunni, the pair which was brought to the park in 1985, has given birth to a cub. Earlier, a female cub, Geeta, was born in 1997. The attendants noticed the cub only two days ago when Chunni brought it out of her den for the first time. The growth of hair on the cub indicated that it was two to three weeks old.

The Wildlife authorities are elated over the birth of the cub and plan to start a regular breeding programme with a long-term goal of reintroduction of the endangered animal in the wild. It plans to find a mate for Geeta, who is in her seventh year and already in the reproductive age.

Mr A.K. Gulati, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), said efforts would be made to acquire a male bear under an exchange arrangement so that there was no problem of inbreeding.

Native to the Western Himalayas, the brown bear is found along the perennial snowline between the altitudinal limits of 10,000 ft to 12,000 ft. Rapid degradation of the natural habitat and the receding snowline in recent years pose a serious threat the existence of brown bear. Today it is found in a few sanctuaries like Kugti and Tundah and the high reaches of Bhara Bhangal.

Located at 8200 ft, the Himalayan Nature Park is ideal for breeding brown bear.