H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

I didn’t sign MoU on fiscal reforms: Dhumal
Awahdevi (Hamirpur), January 22
Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal clarified here yesterday that the MoU on fiscal reforms was not signed by his government with the Centre in 1999. Clarifying his position in this respect, he said at a public meeting here that the MoU had been signed by the Congress government, led by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

30 cops injured in temple demolition
Una, January 22
Thirty policemen were injured, two of them seriously, when violence broke out today during demolition of a place of worship after removing the idol at Santokhgarh near here in accordance with a court order.

4 killed in road mishap
Chamba, January 22
Four persons were killed and a girl was injured when a car (No. HR-12E-0092) in which they were travelling skidded on the snow on the road and rolled down a hillock at Luddu, about 10 km from here today.

4 killed, 35 hurt in road mishap
Solan, January 22
Four persons were killed and 35 injured, 12 of them seriously, when a bus carrying a marriage party rolled down into a deep gorge near Nauni village under Darla police station of the district late last night.

35 new leprosy cases detected
Baddi, January 22
Thirtyfive fresh leprosy cases have been detected in the industrial belt of Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagrah and Parwanoo. The Solan District TB Leprosy Society detected the cases in a weeklong survey recently.

I didn’t sign MoU on fiscal reforms: Dhumal
Our Correspondent

Awahdevi (Hamirpur), January 22
Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal clarified here yesterday that the MoU on fiscal reforms was not signed by his government with the Centre in 1999. Clarifying his position in this respect, he said at a public meeting here that the MoU had been signed by the Congress government, led by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Mr Dhumal said this after inaugurating a mobile repair unit here. He refuted the charge of the Chief Minister that he had not discussed the proposed draft of the MoU in the Assembly. He dubbed the state government as one of the weakest and most inefficient since Independence. He said the Congress had made many promises to the people, but had not fulfilled these.

Mr Dhumal alleged that the fiscal health of the state had deteriorated due to the wrong policies of the state government. Taking a dig at the Chief Minister for trying to shift IRB-2 from Jangel Beri, he said that if this attitude of the Chief Minister continued, the BJP would shift all police forces from Junga to Jangel Beri if it came back to power.

30 cops injured in temple demolition

Una, January 22
Thirty policemen were injured, two of them seriously, when violence broke out today during demolition of a place of worship after removing the idol at Santokhgarh near here in accordance with a court order.

The police fired about 30 rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the violent protesters. About 100 persons, including 22 women, were arrested later.

The injured included SP D.K. Yadav, DSP Amb, Virender Tomar and SDM Sanjay Sharma. The policemen were deployed for assisting bailiff staff of the local court for demolition.

Stones and brickbats were hurled at the policemen from adjoining buildings during the demolition. Amb SHO Diwan Chand, who was injured, was rushed to PGI Chandigarh, while a woman constable Sushma and constable Mohinder Singh sustained fractures.

The court had ordered the demolition of the structure, which was constructed on a private land. The first attempt made on December 28 to demolish it failed.

After removing the idol, the holy scripture and the cashbox from the single room structure, heavy machinery was brought in for the demolition. About 300 policemen were deployed. — UNI

4 killed in road mishap
Our Correspondent

Chamba, January 22
Four persons were killed and a girl was injured when a car (No. HR-12E-0092) in which they were travelling skidded on the snow on the road and rolled down a hillock at Luddu, about 10 km from here today.

On receiving the information, residents of surrounding villages rushed to the accident site and helped police officials in extricating the dead bodies.

According to police sources, the deceased have been identified as Suman Vyas, Punam Puri, Raghav Puri, all local residents of Chamba, and Saurah, resident of Pathankot. The girl, lone survivor, has been undergoing treatment in zonal hospital here.

A case has been registered.

4 killed, 35 hurt in road mishap

Solan, January 22
Four persons were killed and 35 injured, 12 of them seriously, when a bus carrying a marriage party rolled down into a deep gorge near Nauni village under Darla police station of the district late last night.

While three persons died on the spot, one succumbed to injuries on way to Zonal Hospital, Bilaspur. — UNI

35 new leprosy cases detected
Our Correspondent

Baddi, January 22
Thirtyfive fresh leprosy cases have been detected in the industrial belt of Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagrah and Parwanoo. The Solan District TB Leprosy Society detected the cases in a weeklong survey recently. Nineteen teams of health workers had done a door-to-door to survey in the area.

Out of the 35 cases only four were from Himachal while rest were all migrant labourers from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

In Solan district at present, 67 leprosy patients were under medical treatment, said Dr Vijay Kashyap, Solan District Leprosy Officer. During last year, in a similar type of survey, 17 cases of leprosy were detected.

Most of them were migrant labourers. But the disease was well under control in the state, pointed Dr Kashyap. Meanwhile the society would observe an awareness rally on January 30 here on Leprosy Day, informed Dr Kashyap.