 |
|
Virbhadra dares Dhumal for debate on MoU
BJP asks Virbhadra to apologise
CM for checking unscientific mining
HP to amend Panchayati Raj Act
Financial crisis in Dharamsala MC
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 get bail in Ambuja Cement case
Fresh snow in HP
Fear of snowstorms looms large over Lahaul valley
Three of family asphyxiated
Threat to intensify stir
HP board declares Class VIII results
3 killed as car falls into khud
|
|
Virbhadra dares Dhumal for debate on MoU
Hamirpur, January 24 In a formal chat with local newspersons here, he said that Mr Dhumal was telling a lie that he had not signed the MoU. He said that in fact it was not Mr Dhumal but then Chief Secretary A.K. Goswami who had not only signed and implemented the documents but had also sent the compliance report to the Central Government. He said that he was not against the MoU and once he came to power and the document was put before him, he discussed the matter with his Cabinet colleagues and then signed a revised memorandum getting more facilities to the state to run the administration. Mr Virbhadra Singh urged the BJP legislators not to take the House lightly and attend its meetings regularly. Answering a question about the Cabinet expansion, Mr Virbhadra Singh said that it would be done very soon. He announced that in order to complete the works in time and to bring transparency in the functioning of the Public Work Department, it had been decided not to give more than two tenders to one contractor. This principle would also be followed in other public utility departments like Irrigation and Public health. He said that e-governance would be launched in the state and the day was not far-off when the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary would hold talks with their officers all over the state through video conferencing. The Chief Minister disclosed that he had set up a department of public grievances at the state level to listen to the grievances of the people. All complaints registered with this department would be dealt with and their favorable replies sent to the parties concerned within one month. Mr
Virbhadra Singh denied sifting of IRB-2 from Hamirpur district. He said that in fact a new site was being located for the battalion. He said that while the work for IRB-1 was taken up a site was located at Basal. However, when that was found unfit, the battalion was shifted from there to Ramgarh and the same precedent was being adopted in the case of IRB-2. He said that the state government would set up another university of bio-technology in the state in the coming year. The work for the location of site was in progress. The Chief Minister had a dig at Mr Dhumal for dubbing him a “rajwara”. He said that he was proud to be member of a royal family. |
|
BJP asks Virbhadra to apologise
Shimla, January 24 Addressing a press conference here today, the BJP state spokesperson, Mr Randhir Sharma, claimed that even though charges had been framed against the minister, the Chief Minister was trying to shield her by stating that they were yet to be framed. “The Chief Minister owes an apology to the media and the judiciary as even on January 18 he made a statement at Kangra that charges were yet to be framed against the minister,” he remarked. Mr Randhir Sharma demanded that Mr Virbhadra Singh should dismiss Mrs Asha Kumari from the Cabinet as charges had been framed against her. “In fact by defending her Mr Virbhadra Singh is saving himself as he too is facing cases in the Supreme Court. In case he asks her to step down he too will have to do the same,” he opined. The BJP leader said ever since the Congress had come to power in the state attempts were being made to shield all corrupt ministers and officials. He added that there was rampant corruption in the state at all levels because the ministers and senior Congress leaders were themselves facing serious charges. |
|
|
CM for checking unscientific mining
Hamirpur, January 24 Addressing a District Grievances Committee-cum-District Development Committee meeting here today, he said that unscientific mining had led to drying up of water resources. He stressed the need for preserving ground water for maintaining the water supply schemes. The Chief Minister said that no encroachments on government land would be allowed and no one would be allowed to retain such lands in their possession. He, however, stressed the need for providing sympathetic consideration towards the landless and houseless persons. He said that the main motive of the committees like grievances committees was to discuss the problems of the people with the officers concerned and to sort out them at the earliest. He said that no one would be allowed to play with the career of poor people. He directed the officers to sort out the grievances on priority basis. He announced that the work on the Hamirpur by pass would be speeded up. Mr B.B.L. Butail, Political Secretary to the Chief Minister, and Ms Anita Verma, MLA, also spoke on the occasion. |
|
HP to amend Panchayati Raj Act
Shimla, January 24 Stating this at a press conference here today, Mr Sat Mahajan, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats, said that the Act would be revamped to delegate more power and functions to the Panchayati Raj institutions. The draft proposals included reduction of statutory committees from the existing seven to two. The pradhan would have to chose between the Budget Committee and the Works Committee and the other would be headed by the up-pradhan. The decision to reduce the number of committees was taken after its was observed that most of these committees did not perform any functions. The panchayats would be free to set up their own committees for specific functions, if required. Instead of direct elections, the up-pradhans would be elected indirectly by panches and they would be given power to attest documents on a par with the pradhan. The need to increase the rotation of reservation of seats to 10 years was felt as pradhans elected for just one term did not take interest in development as they had no electoral stakes. The government also proposes to make it mandatory for the village-level functionaries like patwaris, forest guard, school teacher, male and female health worker and other such employees of various departments to attend the gram sabha meetings. The gram sabha would send resolutions through the panchayats to the Deputy Commissioner, Subdivisional Magistrate and the Block Development Officer and they would take appropriate action within one month under intimation to the sabha. The Deputy Commissioner would also be authorised to order an inquiry against the panchayat functionaries. He said the Panchayati Raj set-up would be strengthened by recruiting 3,000 panchayat sahayaks who would be provided three month’s training in maintenance of accounts. The remuneration of technical assistants would be increased from 1 to 2 per cent of the cost of work. Besides, 100 junior engineers would be appointed in the Rural Development Department on contract basis. The government had also decided to renew the contract of 3,000 tailoring teachers. Mr Mahajan said that the government had taken a policy decision to assign the supervision of watershed projects to the panchayats concerned if the watershed committee failed to carry out the task properly. |
|
|
Financial crisis in Dharamsala MC
Dharamsala, January 24 Grants varying between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 28 lakh are given quarterly to the corporation to meet its expenses, including payment of salaries to its employees. However, the last grant was received in August last year and after that not a single penny has been received by the MC. Mr Anurag Khanna, vice-president of the corporation, said repeated reminders to the government in this regard had fallen on deaf ears. "We have sent the last reminder only last week and are waiting for a positive response," he said. Even though there are separate financial sanctions for development projects being undertaken by the corporation, under different Central and state government schemes, an expenditure of nearly Rs 10 lakh is incurred by the corporation per month on other expenses. "Of this, nearly Rs 7 lakh goes into paying the salaries of the staff alone. The MC has a total of 169 employees, including officials and those working in the Sanitation Department," he said. Another MC official said there was a time when grants were paid in advance so that the functioning of development works was not affected. "Construction of a municipal guest house and a "rein basera" are two main projects being carried out by the corporation right now. But delay in payment of grants for so long does become a hurdle in finishing the projects in time," he said. "The grants are not enough for the corporation and it has to raise nearly Rs 10 lakh every year from other sources to break even. An amount of nearly Rs 2 lakh is paid as electricity bill for street lights in the city. The MC also has to pay pension to over 10 retired employees," he added. |
|
|
19 get bail in Ambuja Cement case
Solan, January 24 Committee members Jagdish Thakur, Ram Krishen Sharma, Hari Singh Thakur and D.S. Pawar said they would not comprise with the authorities of Gujarat Ambuja Cement Limited (GACL) and would speed up their agitation if their demands were not met. They said the police had listed about 150 persons for involvement in the agitation and rued that a majority of them were not even present at Darlaghat during the agitation. An agitation of aggrieved BLLS operators held a protest in front of the residence of Arki MLA, D.P. Thakur resenting his indifferent attitude. They alleged that the MLA was accruing personal benefits worth crores from the GACL and was conniving with them. The committee pointed out that the MLA was using the administration to settle scores with his political opponents. Transporters from Punjab were being hired to transport cement from Ropar. It caused revenue loss to the state exchequer. They alleged the MLA had used his influence to get a contract for transporting iron from the GACL and he was acting contrary to their demands. Negating the agreement arrived at by the district administration between the GACL officials and truck unions leaders, the committee said they would continue their agitation if no hike in freight charges was effected as per their demand. They were now contemplating to approach the local court for getting personal responsibility fixed at the misuse of political clout by the MLA. Meanwhile, trucks continued to ply at the GACL premises amidst heavy police security. Police officials said the situation was peaceful and under control. |
|
Fresh snow in HP
Shimla, January 24 According to reports reaching here, Churdhar, the Hatu peak, Shali Tibba and higher reaches of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti were having intermittent snow since morning. Normal life remained affected in upper Shimla, Kinnaur and parts of Chamba and Kulu districts as roads in many snow-bound areas could not be opened to vehicular traffic. While normal traffic was restored on the Chamba-Pathankot and Kulu-Manali highways, the Hindustan-Tibet road was still blocked beyond Theog as a result of which most parts of upper Shimla remained cut off for the third day. The road to Mashobra was also cleared today. The city recorded a minimum temperature of -.8°C, three degrees more than yesterday. Taps ran dry in several areas as water in pipes was frozen. Meanwhile, the cold wave sweeping Himachal Pradesh for the past fortnight claimed one more life today, taking the death toll in the current winter season in the state to three. The body of a 55-year-old beggar was found lying near the main bus stand here last evening. The body was sent for a post-mortem to Indira Gandhi Medical Hospital here, the police said. Earlier, deaths of two persons were reported from Sundernagar and Karsog in Mandi district. DAGSHAI: The heavy snowfall in the past three days has attracted tourists to this place. The town has recorded an unprecedented rush of tourists. The snow-covered Charing Cross area remained the centre of attraction. CHANDIGARH: The northwest plains of Punjab and Haryana remained in the grip of the cold wave as the minimum temperatures dipped one to three degrees below normal in the region, while the sky remained cloudy on Monday. Karnal in Haryana was the coldest in the region at a minimum of 4°C, which was three degrees below normal. It was two degrees below normal at Ambala (4.5°C) and one degree below normal at Hisar (5.5°C). In Punjab, Patiala recorded a minimum of 4.6°C, two degrees below normal and Ludhiana 4.8°C, one degree below normal. The night temperature in Amritsar was, however, one degree above normal at 6°C. |
|
Fear of snowstorms looms large over Lahaul valley
Mandi, January 24 Reliving the dance of death that the massive avalanche had wreaked in tribal belt in March, 1979, and then in 1998, the residents revealed that the snowstorms and avalanches had wiped out four villages out of existence, killing over 300 people. What raises concern is that the villagers remain at the mercy of the snowstorms as they have no help from outside because the snow cuts the Lahaul valley off from the outside world for five-six months through the land route. Even helicopter flights, scheduled once a week, are cancelled due to bad weather for weeks
together. Officials here, who hail from Lahaul-Spiti, say no government has bothered about such tragedies. They said people living in the landlocked region of Lahaul-Spiti,
Barbour and Pang in Chamba district and Kinnaur district had to bear the brunt year after year. There was no contingency plan to rescue or warn people facing snowstorms and avalanches as it happened in the past. Though the villagers have shifted the location of their houses to safer places, the threat from snowstorms looms large in the villages of Yurnath, Warring, Garang and Triloknath, which had wiped out of existence in March, 1979. A family of six people at Peoso village near Keylong were buried alive as an avalanche destroyed the house. Snowstorms were also reported from Sangla valley in Kinnaur and Pangi and Bharmour areas in Chamba district, revealed the officials. “It snowed for six days non-stop. We used to clear snow every three hours from the rooftops of our houses as over three feet of snow would gather'', recalled Mr Ajay Kumar, a resident of Keylong, the district
headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti. |
|
|
Three of family asphyxiated
Hamirpur, January 24 The deceased have been identified as Sukhan Devi (65), Anil (13) and Ankush (12), both school students. Sunil Dutt, a plus one student of the village was the first to notice smoke emitting from a house. He told this correspondent at the village that there was smoke all around and it was difficult for him to enter. However, once he entered, he found all the three persons dead. He immediately informed the villagers and Mr Rajesh Kumar, son of the deceased woman. Immediately police was also informed and the bodies taken in custody. The ASP, Hamirpur, Yashbir Pathania was among the police officers who reached the spot after getting the report. He denied any foul play in the incident. He said the bodies would be taken for post-mortem. Mr Rajesh Kumar, father of two dead children, was in tears and denied any foul play in the death of three of his family members, including his mother and children. He said one of his children had come to this ill-fated house to give food to his mother who lived separately. Reporters who visited the house found that all clothes in the house were badly burnt along with the bodies. Moreover, there was a gas cylinder in that room. However, luckily it did catch fire. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and former Chief Minister and local MLA, Prem Kumar Dhumal have expressed shock and grief over the incident. |
|
Threat to intensify stir
Chandigarh, January 24 The committee threatened to gherao ministers who are at Dharamsala in connection with the Republic Day function. People of Nagrota Bagwan have to walk miles to get work related to their land done. People, facing civil cases have either to go to district headquarters or to Tehsil at Kangra, which is their wastage of time and energy, he added.
|
|
HP board declares Class VIII results
Dharamsala, January 24 A total of 37,685 students had appeared in the examination and 27,409 have passed it, 2,068 have been awarded compartments, said a board official. The results are also available at the board website ‘www.hpeducationboard.nic.in’. The last date for submitting examination forms for the September exam, without late fee, is June 30, 2005, along with an examination fee of Rs 130. |
|
3 killed as car falls into khud
Shimla, January 24 The police identified the victims as Jai Krishan (31), Suresh (30) and Dimple (19). Two persons died on the spot, while another succumbed to his injuries in the Civil Hospital, Kotkhai. The wounded, identified as Megha and Suriti, were shifted to Indira Gandhi Medical college and hospital after first aid. Kotkhai Tehsildar Y.P.S. Verma gave Rs 5,000 to next of kin of the deceased as immediate relief.
— UNI |
|
180 bottles of liquor seized Baddi, January 24 Meanwhile two motorcycle-borne persons received injuries when the motorcycle skidded near Kasauli last evening. Both were referred to the
PGI, Chandigarh.
Migrant labourer killed in mishap Baddi, January 24
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
