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B.S. Thind issue continues to echo in Vidhan Sabha
Freedom of Religion Bill passed
Decks cleared for selection of parliamentary secys
Flashback
2006 |
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Don’t decide cases under
retention policy: HC
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B.S. Thind issue continues to echo in Vidhan Sabha
Dharamsala, December 29 Mr Mohinder Singh of the BJP first raised the issue immediately after the question hour. He referred to another letter purported to have been written by Thind. In it Thind had levelled fresh allegations against some top civil and police officials of the state. The letter has been published in some newspapers today. The MLA showed a xerox copy of this letter in the House. Perturbed over ‘Thind’s phobia’ in the House, the Chief Minister stood up and once again denied having received any such letter. He said the matter could not be raised merely on the basis of newspaper reports. Accusing the BJP of being obsessed by Thind, the Chief Minister said the party that was after Thind’s blood had suddenly become his benefactor, which showed ‘political bankruptcy’ of the party. “In fact, you are the ‘godfather of Thind’ and should name your party as the BJP (Thind)”, he told Dhumal in an aggressive tone. He reiterated that let Thind send detailed charges and he would order an inquiry but could not do anything based on vague charges. Intervening the Chief Minister, Dhumal said the letter purported by Thind had appeared in the press and BJP members were in possession of its copy but the Chief Minister was denying having received that letter. Why the government was not taking any action when the charges levelled by Thind were of serious nature and involving top brass of the government, he asked? Dhumal accused Virbhadra Singh of shielding Thind and plainly said, “You are the ‘godfather’ and should name your party as Congress (Thind)”. He added that it was the tradition of the Congress and not the BJP to name the party after its leaders like the Congress (Indira). The BJP leader said when in power his government had filed a case against
B.S. Thind for alleged irregularities during his tenure in Agro-Packaging India limited (AIPL) of which he was the then Managing Director but the present Congress government had filed an application in the court for withdrawal of the case against him. The Chief Minister again warned Thind in the House that he was still a government servant governed by service conduct rules and therefore he should refrain from such irresponsible acts of writing ‘mysterious’ letters. Gangu Ram Musafir, Speaker, rejected the notice for discussion after heated arguments between the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the House. |
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Freedom of Religion Bill passed
Dharamsala, December 29 Virbhadra said the Bill was intended to prevent forcible conversions. Conversions created resentment among several sections of the society and also inflame religious passions leading to communal clashes, he said. He claimed the Bill was meant to prevent exploitation of the depressed classes. He said it has been observed that there was a rise in conversions based on allurement. "Unless checked well in time this practice may erode the confidence and mutual trust between the different ethnic and religious groups in the state,” the Chief Minister said. According to this Bill, No person shall convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one religion to another by the use of force or by inducement or by any other fraudulent means nor shall any person abet any such conversion. With regard to the provision of punishment, Any person contravening the provisions contained in Section-3 (as mentioned above) shall, without prejudice to any civil liability, be punishable with imprisonment of either description which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to Rs 25,000 or with both. Further, Provided that in case the offence is committed in respect of a minor, a woman or a person belonging to scheduled caste or scheduled tribes, the punishment of imprisonment may extend to three years and fine may extend to Rs 50,000. As per the Bill, the offence has been made a cognisable one and shall not be investigated by an officer below the rank of an Inspector of police. The other five Bills that were passed in the House by the state government today included; Himachal Pradesh Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Amendment Bill-2006, Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill-2006, Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning (2nd Amendment) Bill-2006, Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill-2006 and Himachal Pradesh Prohibition of Smoking and Non-Smokers Health Protection (Amendment) Bill-2006.
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Decks cleared for selection of parliamentary secys
Dharamsala, December 29 A
Bill, Himachal Pradesh Parliamentary Secretary (Appointment, salary, Allowances, Powers, Special Privileges and Perks) Bill-2006, introduced in the House by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Wednesday was passed unanimously, this afternoon. This has paved the way for the fresh appointment of some Congress MLAs as chief parliamentary secretaries and parliamentary secretaries in the near future. Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal while discussing the Bill said that the intention behind this Bill was to provide young legislators an experience in administration so that they could shoulder greater responsibilities in the future. He brought to the notice of the House that the matter was presently pending before the Supreme Court and the CM should have waited for the decision of the apex court. Moreover, the idea behind the constitutional amendment made by Parliament fixing the quota of ministers was to put a check on extra financial burden on small states like Himachal Pradesh, which were wasting state exchequer on heavy burden of ministers. In his reply, the Chief Minister said that his government was stable and the intention behind bringing the bill was to encourage the young MLAs to have administrative experience so that later they could shoulder more responsibilities. Referring to the constitutional amendment, the Chief Minister said that though Parliament was aware about the appointment of parliamentary secretaries in some states but did not put any limit on their appointment and kept it out of constitutional amendment. He appealed to the leader of opposition not to oppose the bill and let it be passed unanimously. Later, the Bill was passed by a voice vote as there was no objection from the opposition benches. |
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Voters showed little interest in panchayat samiti poll
Vidya Rattan Sharma Tribune News Service
Nahan, December 29 The Mumbai Police picked up Rashid Sheikh, alias Jitender, accused in the recent Mumbai blasts, from Puruwalla in Paonta Sahib, while a woman, Trishali Devi, was shot dead in Parduni village of this subdivision. The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, while inaugurating the opening ceremony of the Renuka fair, had cautioned that only authorised education centres affiliated to state universities would be allowed to conduct academic teachings. Voters showed little interest during the Panchayat Samiti elections in Sirmaur district. On account of the low turn out, the elections were abandoned in other subdivisions, barring Pachhad and Nahan where polling took place. The Chief Minister gave special powers to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr R.S. Negi, to allot minimum 2 biswas of land free to the homeless in Sirmaur district. He also announced a polytechnic college for the district, besides introducing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Mr Baldev Bhandari was elected president of the BJP’s Sirmaur unit, which quoted controversy. Mr G.R. Musafir, Speaker, Vidhan Sabha, had said Himachal Pardesh had come under the National Rural Health Mission with a grant of Rs 51.40 crore for the improvement of health services and roads in Sirmaur district. The Shillai hospital would become a referral unit with 30 bed and six specialist doctors to carry out clinical duties, he had added. A pact allowing the buses from Uttaranchal and the state to ply in each other’s territories was signed at the ministry level. The buses from Paonta Sahib and Harbattpur (Uttaranchal) would cover 8,000 km on the NH-1 saving tax outgo of Rs 25 lakh annually.
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Don’t decide cases under
retention policy: HC
Shimla, December 29 While passing this interim order a division Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mr Vinod Kumar Gupta, and Mr Justice V.K. Ahuja, further clarified
that, however, the process may go on. This interim order was passed by the division Bench on a PIL filed by Trisha Sharma wherein she alleged that while issuing this policy the state government surpassed its jurisdiction. She further alleged that this policy is against the public at large and more over it would encourage unauthorised construction instead of curbing and controlling it. The state government issued a notification (Retention Policy) on November 20, 2006, for regularising the unauthorised construction in the entire state. The same was challenged by a petitioner on the ground that this policy was not in a public interest. |
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