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Tibetan govt shoots off letter to Hu
Bridge across Sutlej collapses, JE, 2 others feared dead
BJP state chief poll deferred
Gramin Bank penalised for wrong insurance
Record production of apples in Pangi
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Rangila not in CPMT scam: CM
Govt to promote Sanskrit: CM
Scribes boycott CM’s function
Minister mocks at resignation demand
Financial aid for scribes in distress
Case against doctor
puts tribal women
in a quandary Govt benevolent towards Gujjars
MLA moots health centre, roads for villages
School for blind gets national award
Trucks being run on fake permits
Phone cable thieves on the prowl
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Tibetan govt shoots off letter to Hu
Dharamsala, November 19 The standing committee of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile yesterday said:" The blatant shooting on the
Tibetan escapees at Nangpa la (pass) criticising the Dalai Lama, stalling the sixth round of delegation visit and reduction in the number of Tibetan cadres in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan prefectures,
will not help to find an amicable solution to the Tibetan issue." The Standing Committee has addressed a letter to the effect to the Chinese President and copies of the same sent to the Prime Minister of
India, the Minister For External Affairs, President of the Congress party and UPA chairperson and the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. A statement issued here said there should be a meeting between the President of China and the Dalai Lama as soon as possible and preferably on Indian soil. In 1954, the Dalai Lama had met Chairman Mao in Beijing. India's role
as a facilitator was important for obvious reasons. The Dalai Lama had already expressed his wish to visit Tibet as well as China. The Chinese leadership should invite him to make such a visit without any preconditions. |
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Bridge across Sutlej collapses, JE, 2 others feared dead Reckong Peo, November 19 According to Mr S.P. Negi, Executive Engineer, PWD who was on the spot at the time of collapse said on telephone that when three loaded trucks (tippers) were passing on the bridge for load testing the bridge collapsed. A few workers and senior officials of the PWD saved their lives by running towards edges when the bridge started collapsing, he said. “We were planning to pass six trucks at a time and three more trucks were about to run through the bridge along with those trucks that fell down”, said Mr Negi. All three trucks after falling into Sutlej got buried under debris of the bridge. Two drivers were rescued by PWD workers present at the site while the bridge was caving in, the engineer said. Among those feared drowned in Sutlej include a junior engineer identified as Rajinder Mandiyal of Joginder Nagar, a foreman identified as Shri Ram More and a driver of the truck identified as Ram Kishan. The junior engineer and foreman were employees of the public works department whereas the driver of the truck was an employee of a contractor. Additional District Magistrate of Pooh Deva Singh Negi, senior officials of the local units of the Army and the border roads organisation rushed to the spot to carry out rescue. The police after registering a case began investigation into the incident. Sources revealed the state government had also ordered a high-level probe into the incident. Late in the evening, a senior official of the Army said they might have to stop the rescue operation at night due to poor visibility.
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BJP state chief poll deferred
Shimla, November 19 With a section of BJP leaders from Himachal insisting on holding elections, contrary to the high command's view of evolving a consensus on one name, the central leadership decided to defer the elections after holding rounds of inconclusive talks with state BJP leaders in Delhi yesterday. The decision to defer the elections till the individual opinion of delegates was obtained was taken at a meeting of the leaders from the state with Mr Sanjay Joshi, National Organisational Secretary, Mr Sahib Singh Verma, in charge of party affairs of Himachal, Mr Arun Jaitley and Mr Venkatanaidu in Delhi yesterday. All leaders, including former Union Minister Shanta Kumar, former Chief Minister P.K Dhumal, state BJP chief Suresh Bhardwaj and Mahendar Pandey, State Organisational Secretary, attended the meeting. The high command unsuccessfully tried to evolve consensus on the names of Mr Jai Ram Thakur, MLA from Mandi and Mr Kripal Parmar, a former MP. Claiming majority support of the delegates who form the electoral college for the state chief poll, the anti-Dhumal camp, formed by Mr Shanta Kumar, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, Mr Maheshwar Singh and Mr J.P Nadda insisted on holding elections. They expressed reservations about a man being imposed by the party high command as it would be against the wishes of party workers. The Dhumal faction, on the other hand, while being open to elections, raked up the issue of faulty elections in Sirmaur and Kangra districts. They also insisted that elections of Kulu district must also be held before the state chief poll was held. "We are willing for election but on the condition that Kangra and Sirmaur must be debarred and Kulu elections must be held," said a Dhumal loyalist. The Dhumal camp pointed out that elections in Kangra district were against the party constitution according to which there had to be a minimum of three Scheduled Caste delegates, while there was only one there. With the high command now deciding to take the opinion of delegates, the rival camps have already started wooing the delegates. It is now being expected that the high command will go by the majority opinion of the delegates. |
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Gramin Bank penalised for wrong insurance
Sundernagar, November 19 Mr Jitender Parmar, a resident of Chowk, Sundernagar, had lodged a complaint with the forum that the bank insured his vehicle, which was financed by it, without his consent. The insurance of his scooter was due to expire on April 12, 2006. He further alleged that his scooter was insured on April 5, 2006, and the information in this regard was passed to the bank on April 28 when he had gone to deposit the scooter’s instalment. He his horror found that the bank had deducted the amount to be paid for insurance from his account. Bank officials were unable to give him insurance paper when asked for it. When he requested the officials to cancel the insurance the bank denied it. The contention of the bank was that it had insured the scooter as per the loan agreement. He then approached the insurance company but was told that less amount would be refunded to him. Then Mr Parmar approached the Consumer Forum which noticed that the insurance was done after the due date. The forum held that this amounted to the deficiency in service and directed the bank to pay the compensation along with interest. |
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Record production of apples in Pangi
Chamba, November 19 He claimed that orchardists of Pangi were getting high prices for their crop in the competitive markets thanks to the colour, quality and flavour of the apples of the tribal valley tucked in the peaks of Pir Panjal ranges. Moreover, these apples were disease-free despite the fact that no pesticide and insecticides were used for their preservation, the Resident Commissioner stated. According to another survey, the production of dry and temperate fruits had gone up to 35 metric tones, as the secluded valley was most commonly known for its naturally-grown dry and temperate fruits, he said. To boost production of dry and temperate fruits on a large scale in the valley, research would be conducted so that its production could be promoted on commercial lines to a great extent. Referring to seasonal vegetable production, the green peas had hit the production to 1500 metric tonnes during this season due to seeds of high-yielding variety provided to the farmers, which enabled them to earn lucrative value. He said that this year 220 quintals of fertilisers and agricultural tools alongwith accessories costing Rs 30.22 lakh had been distributed amongst the farmers. The commissioning of Chamba-Killar (Pangi valley) via Jot road this year had not only facilitated the tribal orchardists and farmers of the valley to market their produce but also given a much-needed fillip to grow more produce, the Resident Commissioner felt. |
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Rangila not in CPMT scam: CM
Palampur, November 19 This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while talking to mediapersons at Tanda, 30 km from here, today. He said the state government had given free hand to the special investigation team. The Chief Minister said neither he nor his Cabinet colleagues had ever interfered in the functioning of the SIT. He said though the high court had ordered the probe into the scam but at the same time the SIT was constituted by the state government. To a question the Chief Minister said no one had approached him to help or bail out the culprits involved in the scam. He said Excise and Taxation Minister Rangila Ram Rao had nothing to do with this. He criticised the BJP leaders asking for his resignation from the Cabinet. |
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Govt to promote Sanskrit: CM
Sundernagar, November 19 Mr Virbhadra Singh said this while addressing a gathering at Purana Bazar on the occasion of the annual prize distribution function of Sanskrit College here yesterday. He said for the development of Sanskrit, the state government had opened five Sanskrit colleges in Himachal Pradesh in addition to three colleges, which were running with the aid of the Central Government, 20 private colleges and a Sanskrit Vidyapith. He said the government was thinking of opening a Sanskrit university in the state, which would be having all modern facilities. He said a tribal hostel and girls’ hostel would soon be constructed and for that the funds had already been allocated. On the demand raised by the staff of Sanskrit College, he declared that a building which was constructed by the local municipal council on the land of the college would be handed over to the college and the council would be duly compensated. It was also declared that a Electricity Complaint Cell of the HPSEB, which is by the side of the college premises, would be shifted to some suitable place and the building of the cell would be handed over to the college. The Chief Minister gave away prizes to students. Mr Sohan Lal, local MLA, also spoke. Mr Tek Chand Dogra, MLA, Nachan, Mr Natha Singh, Chairman, HP Cooperative Bank, and some senior leaders of the Congress were present. |
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Scribes boycott CM’s function
Kangra, November 19 Reporters packed up and boycott the function in protest when Mr Bali who was sitting near the Chief Minister and cultural show was in progress, got up from his chair and asked police officers not to allow media photographers to move in front of the stage for taking shots. He then asked Deputy Director of Information and Public Relation Rajender Rajan to convey to the media lensmen not move in front of the dais. |
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Minister mocks at resignation demand
Shimla, November 19 Under attack from the BJP after the arrest of his brother, Mr Kuldeep Rao in connection with the CPMT paper leak scam, Mr Rao said the former BJP minister, Mr Mohinder Singh, had forgotten the deeds of his own brother, a naib
tehsildar, who was caught red-handed while acceding a bribe of Rs 500. Not only that, Mr S.M. Katwal, a former chairperson of the state Subordinate Services Selection Board, had been convicted in cases pertaining to irregularities in recruitment during the BJP regime. |
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Financial aid for scribes in distress
Shimla, November 19 The Director, Information and Public Relations will receive applications for granting financial assistance under the scheme. He will be responsible for placing the application before the committee for approval. Assistance will be extended depending on the merit of the case and financial resources available for the purpose. The state government has already contributed Rs 10 lakh as corpus fund in this regard. Only those journalists whose annual income from all sources is less than Rs 1lakh will be eligible for receiving the assistance. It will be one-time grant and in case of depends only one member of the family will get the assistance. The priority will be given to widow, father, mother, un-employed son below 25 years of age and un-employed or un-married daughter below 25 years. |
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Case against doctor
puts tribal women in a quandary Reckong Peo, November 19 According to the doctor the complaint was fake as it did not have the names and addresses of the complainants and the Chief Minister’s office had unduly taken action on it. According to official documents available with The Tribune, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh vide diary no. 198177 (dated May 5, 2006) had asked senior officials of the health department to conduct an inquiry after receiving the complaint. Acting on this the Principal Secretary of health department (vide letter no. Health-A-B-(15)-6/2006) ordered the District Magistrate of Kinnaur to inquire into the matter through a local SDM and furnish the report within 15 days. While refuting the charges of corruption and misconduct, Dr Harjinder Singh has demanded that the whole matter should be probed by an independent agency and the persons who manipulated the entire game just to harass him and put his job at stake should be dealt with according to law.
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Govt benevolent towards Gujjars Shimla, November 19 A recent survey conducted by the Himachal Consultancy (HIMCON) had revealed that the 43,100 Gujjars in the state were the poorest, living in sordid conditions, had no access to education and most importantly, were highly vulnerable to food insecurity. The productivity of their livestock had been declining over the years because of the ever increasing restrictions on grazing in forest areas and lack of exposure to modern breeding techniques. Their traditional means of livelihood have become economically unrewarding and unsustainable. Worse, being constantly on the move with their herds of buffaloes, these migratory grazers could not drive much benefit from the public distribution system due to lack of access to fair price shops. In a bid to mitigate their woes and improve the quality of their life the government has decided to settle them around the forests so that they could continue with their traditional means of livelihood. The Forest Department has been asked to prepare cases for diversion of land under the Forest Conservation Act for the purpose.
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MLA moots health centre, roads for villages
Kahri (Chamba), November 19 The local MLA of Bhattiyat, Mr Kuldip Singh Pathania, who is also the Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Finance Commission, along with a team of officials, visited the remote hilly terrain of Kahri and Dham belts situated at an altitude of about 2800 metre in the Bhattiyat region when it was snowing yesterday. The area, which remained neglected in the absence of roads and health facilities, was visited by the MLA with the desire to announce the opening of health sub-centre in the area and to link this area with the main road network. The MLA asked the authorities to prepare a draft project report for the construction of road from the Ahla point from where the area could be linked with other world. Later, while talking to this correspondent here today, he said the World Bank had given the assurance to the government for widening the Draman-Bharmour road via Jot Pass as a double-lane highway with a view to linking Bharmour with the National Highway-20 so that pilgrims visiting Manimahesh every
year could have easy access from their destinations. For this double-lane highway, the World Bank had kept a provision of Rs 100 crore and the work would be
undertaken in a phased manner, the Chairman stated. |
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School for blind gets national award
Kulu, November 19 The state branch of the National Association for the Blind, Chander Abha Memorial School for the Blind, Sarwari, Kulu, received the prestigious award. Mr Dharam Vir Dhami, president of the organisation, told mediapersons in a conference, organised yesterday at Mahila Kalyan Bhavan, that this was for the first time that any organisation from Himachal had received this award. The organisation was started by the efforts of late Chander Abha in 1997 with four blind children and today the organisation was having a special school up to the 5th standard where 23 blind children from various parts of the state were studying. |
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Trucks being run on fake permits
Una, November 19 According to sources, a permit holder is suppose to pay Rs 500 for HP, Rs 3,000 for a UT and Rs 5,000 for each for the state covered. Agents issuing fake permits fill the certificate by mentioning wrong draft numbers, dates and name of bank before it is handed over to a vehicle owner on a payment varying between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 each. In fact, the amount to be paid for 10 states, including Himachal Pradesh, comes to Rs 45,500. Thus, the fake permit causes huge loss to the state exchequer as each state is losing Rs 5000. According to the sources, there are about 2000 trucks registered in Una and Amb subdivision which are attached with the Truck Unions at Nangal, Hoshiarpur, Talwara and Mukerian in Punjab and Una. Most trucks of these union are running with fake permits. The sources told The Tribune that some states had prepared CDs of trucks having national permits and sent these to state barriers officials, which were connected with computers. Since many state barrier officials did not have computers, proper check could not be carried out for the detection of fake permits. |
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Phone cable thieves on the prowl
Nurpur, November 19 The police suspected involvement of drug addicts into the thefts. The gang has cut and stolen 40 metre of cable linking Kherian telephone exchange, 250 m cable from the local housing board colony and 60 m from ward number five in the town. Thefts of cable linking Nurpur and Suliali telephone exchanges have been committed thrice in a month. At present, more than 100 telephone numbers have thrown out of gear due to thefts. |
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