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Hike in power duty
not for domestic consumers: CM BJP stages walkout in
Vidhan Sabha BJP MLAs call on
Speaker Parbati project:
oustees refuse to take compensation |
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Parwanoo fails to attract
applicants for flats Beekeepers
threaten stir over MSP 5 BJP MLAs move
privilege notice Truck found with five
dead oxen
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Hike in power duty
not for domestic consumers: CM
Shimla, March 18 He also clarified that stamp duty on property sale deeds was not being hiked and under the proposed rationalisation, its rate would be reduced from the existing 12 per cent to 8 per cent to check the revenue loss due to under-evaluation. However, he justified the imposition of professional tax asserting that it would be imposed only on those categories which could afford to pay. While replying to the five-day debate on the budget proposals in the Vidhan Sabha, he said the charges would not be increased for rural water supply and even private connections with one tap would continue to pay at the existing rate but more taps would have a cascading effect. He explained that the Local Area Development Tax in designated areas had to be imposed as the state was losing revenue because of non-levy of consignment tax. He said it had decided not to increase the electricity duty on agriculture power. The government had decided to enhance the rate by 6 paise per unit for bulk power consumers and by 8 paise per unit for intensive power consumers. All these efforts were aimed at bringing about a turnaround and rectify the fiscal imbalances. He pointed out that the state came under increased fiscal stress as the revenue was dwindled during the last year of BJP rule. The income which stood at Rs 3,715 crore in 2001-02 plunged to Rs 3,658 crore in 2002-03. Referring to the references made by BJP members to the high political drama in Jharkhand, Mr Virbhadra Singh said the BJP, which always took a high moral ground, stood fully exposed. He quoted stanzas of an article entitled “political perfidy in Jharkhand” published in The Tribune yesterday to buttress his viewpoint. |
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BJP stages walkout in Vidhan Sabha
Shimla, March 18 The BJP protest came when the Chief Minister, while winding up his speech, said there was no substance in the allegations of graft made by the BJP members and that they had failed to supply any document to support the charges. At this stage he was interrupted by Mr P.K. Dhumal, leader of the BJP group , and other members who were on their feet demanding specific reply to the cases of alleged corruption mentioned by them. The Chief Minister responded by stating that he would not follow in the footsteps of Mr Dhumal and get all the cases investigated provided there was concrete evidence to substantiate the charges. This infuriated the BJP members who started raising slogans. The treasury benches also joined the chorus raising counter slogans. Thereafter, the entire BJP group walked out of the House in protest. Later addressing a press conference, Mr Dhumal said the party had to stage a walkout as the Chief Minister lightly took serious charges of graft brought to the notice of the government during the debate. He completely ignored the specific cases of corruption like the fertiliser scam and bungling in the Kangra Tea Cooperative Society. No satisfactory reply was given to the indiscriminate sanctioning of highly power intensive arc furnace-based industrial units raised by him and other members. The charge of nepotism and favouritism in the recruitment of para- teachers, bus conductors and pharmacists also remained unanswered. The demand of his party for the withdrawal of the professional tax was also not accepted.
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BJP MLAs call on Speaker
Shimla, March 18 Mr Dhumal told media persons that the Speaker informed them that the legislators concerned had been asked to file their replies by March 31 and further action on the matter would be taken only after receiving the replies. The five Independent MLAs are Mr Kuldeep Pathania, Mr Rakesh Verma, Mr Subhash Manglait, Mr Sohan Lal and Dr Biru Ram.
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Parbati project: oustees refuse to take compensation
Kulu, March 18 They said that they should also be assured of continuing their revenue and forest rights which they were enjoying being the owners of the land. Though a few villagers had conditionally, accepted the compensation but they said that they would not vacate their land and houses till they were given more money and an alternative employment. A large gathering of the villagers assembled at Sainj village on Wednesday to protest against the distribution of the compensation which was not up to their expectations. Some of them said that neither they were accepting any amount against their properties nor they would leave the place. Villagers Anant Ram, Prem Singh, Murlidhar said that if they vacated their land, they would be nowhere as their main vocation was agriculture. Those, who had accepted the compensation, also joined the agitation and demanded that there should be an alternative source of supplementing their meagre income. At least one person from the displaced families should be given a permanent job by the project authorities or the HP Government. |
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Parwanoo fails to attract
applicants for flats Baddi, March 18 As per the bid the preference in allocating flats would be
given to industrialists and industrial workforce. However, out of the
total applications received hardly 100 belonged to preferred category
while the rest were of commoners, a senior official at HIMUDA office in
Shimla said. The poor response to bid was not new as in the past
applications were received for two and three room flats at Baddi
industrial belt, officials said. The applications were invited along
with earnest money of Rs 15,000. The total cost of a flat was Rs 2.35
lakh. Out of the total half of the cost was to be received from bidder
after the handing over of the possession letter while rest of the amount
was to be paid in eight equal quarterly instalments. About 1,000 forms
were sold against the bid. Meanwhile, the Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh
Industries Association (BBNIA) have blamed the HIMUDA for this. First
the department has no local office, members of the association pointed
out. Due to poor quality of the HIMUDA constructed houses nobody shows
interest in buying its flats at such higher rates, the members
maintained. The most of the workers preferred to get rented
accommodation as they showed little interest in buying their own flats,
members remarked. To seek direct offer the HIMUDA should involve an
agency that could provide flats on rent or lease to workers, members
suggested. To facilitate housing facilities the HIMUDA should select
land and develop roads and other required infrastructure and then offer
the flats for sale the members asserted.
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Beekeepers threaten stir over MSP
Kangra, March 18 Mr Raj Kumar, spokesperson for the association, said tonnes of honey were rotting in stores and people in the trade were on the verge of starvation as MSP had not been fixed by the government. He said last year honey was sold to private agencies of Delhi and Punjab at Rs 80 to Rs 95 per kg. He alleged that the association had submitted a number of memoranda to the state government in this regard but to no avail. He demanded the fixing of MSP at the earliest, setting up of purchase centres in the state and activation of existing centers here and at
Indora. Mr Raj Kumar demanded the bringing of beekeeping under the agriculture sector on the pattern of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal and Haryana. |
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5 BJP MLAs move privilege notice
Shimla, March 18 Mr I.D. Dhiman, Mr H. S. Rana, Mr H. N. Saini, Mr Ravinder Ravi and Mr Vikram Thakur in their notice alleged that Mr Rahi had, instead of clarifying facts regarding the issues raised by them in the House, made insulting remarks against them and even stated that an attempt was being made to blackmail him.
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Truck found with five dead oxen
Nahan, March 18 The truck was handed over to the Nahan police today in the presence of Mr Manmohan Sharma, SDM, Nahan. Five oxen were given first aid and taken to a shelter for their further treatment. As per police sources, driver and cleaner of the truck ran away when the villagers tried to hold them. Mr Manmohan Sharma, who visited the spot, said it appeared that oxen were mercilessly loaded in the truck due to which five died. Residents of Paonta had already sent several messages to the state government demanding a strict action against persons throwing cows and oxen in the area. Several cases of throwing oxen and cows in khuds had been noticed during the past one year.
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