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Anurag wins Hamirpur by record margin
Dhumal hails victory in Karnataka, Hamirpur
Poll Analysis |
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Generation tax issue taken up with Centre
Uhl project goes the Larji way
Private Hydropower Enterprises
Speaker moots floriculture project
Highway blocked over suicide by youth
Frequent power failures irk residents
Preparations to make Prez visit special
Renovation work of Chowgan rued
Paprola ayurvedic institute to expand its pharmacy
Defamation suit threatened against CMO
CM urges PM to hike wheat quota
Minor abducted, raped
Man, daughter burnt alive
Death condoled
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Anurag wins Hamirpur by record margin
Hamirpur, May 25 Anurag secured 3,74,339 votes, while O.P. Rattan polled 1,99,673 votes. Surpassing all records of victory margins in the constituency, Anurag secured more than double the votes secured by his father and present Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal in the byelection held last year. The resounding victory of the BJP was uniform in all 17 assembly
segments under the Hamirpur constituency. The Congress could not retain its hold in any of the six assembly constituency which the party had won during the last election. Thanking the voters for reposing faith in the policies of the state government by giving huge mandate in its favour, Dhumal said, “This mandate has increased our responsibilities, too, and we will work with even more commitment and dedication towards people.” Anurag Thakur said, “I thank voters for their mandate, especially the youth who came out openly in my support. I will try to create more employment opportunities by brining new projects, besides taking up problems of the area in Parliament.” The BJP leaders marched in a victory procession to Gandhi Chowk and held a pubic meeting that was addressed by Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal and other leaders. Our Correspondent adds from Manali: BJP activists of Manali and adjoining areas celebrated the victory of Anurag Thakur in the Hamirpur byelection by distributing sweets and bursting crackers. Local MLA Govind Singh Thakur hailed the victory and congratulated Anurag and Dhumal. Former horticulture minister Thakur Kunj Lal, local Zila Parishad member Dhaneshweri Thakur and Kullu block BJP president Ram Dyal Sharma have also hailed the victory. |
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Dhumal hails victory in Karnataka, Hamirpur
Shimla, May 25 He said the BJP was emerging as the most popular party in the country due to its people-oriented policies and programmes that benefited the common people the most. Welfare of the people was the party’s main agenda and it had been working in that direction rising above political considerations. The states where the party was in power were ahead of other states in all sectors. Forming the government in Karnataka on its own for the first time would a big achievement and also an indication that it was bound to come to power at the Centre. The people were rejecting the ineffective governments of other parties in various states and reposing faith in the leadership and policies of the BJP. Meanwhile, BJP workers celebrated the victory in Karnataka and Hamirpur byelection by bursting crackers. |
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Poll Analysis
Shimla, May 25 Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal chose the most appropriate time to launch his elder son into electoral politics and he made his entry with a bang. The BJP has won the seat for the fifth time in a row since 1998, but Anurag has achieved the distinction of winning it with the highest margin of 1,74,666 votes. He surpassed the performance of his father, who had secured lead in 15 out of 17 assembly segments and won by over 80,000 votes in 2007. Anurag led in all segments, including Una, the home segment of his Congress rival O.P. Rattan. The low turnout only reflected disillusionment of the Congress supporters. This was evident from the fact that the party polled over 1 lakh votes less than its share in 2007. The BJP, on the other hand, almost retained its vote bank polling 3,74,339 votes as against 3,82,128 secured in 2007. As the BJP came to power only recently the Congress had no real issues to raise during campaigning. The party tried to use the issue of “parivar vaad” but it did not cut much ice with the electorate. The claims that the BJP government was taking credit for the achievements of the Virbhadra Singh government also did not click. It also makes it evident that the loan-waiver for farmers announced by the UPA government and its decision to extended the National Rural Employments Guarantee Scheme to the entire state also did not help the party. Former PCC chief Vidya Stokes said all senior leaders of the party, including Virbhadra Singh and Viplove Thakur, worked in unison but the party lost as the people did not want come out openly against the party that had more than four-and-a-half years to go in the office in the state. |
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Generation tax issue taken up with Centre
Shimla, May 25 Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, in a letter to union finance minister P.Chidambaram, has pointed out that under Article 288 of the Constitution of India the state could levy generation tax. He recalled the budgetary announcement made by the then union finance minister, indicated the intention of the Centre to permit hydropower states to levy tax on generation to make the hilly states financially viable. He said the issue should be examined at an appropriate level and decided in favour of the small hilly states, which had not been getting their legitimate share in the hydropower projects. The Chief Minister said water and power were important natural resources of the state, which were benefiting the neighbouring states. Dhumal wrote that the logic of Parliamentary Standing Committee on finance had also referred to the ‘exemption in exceptional cases’. He said, “The state was an exception and it had till now been denied its legitimate share in a number of cases, which included share under reorganisation of states as well,” He said the state deserved to be compensated for protecting the ecologically fragile hill environment for the benefit of the neighbouring states and the country at large. The Chief Minister also urged the union finance minister to restore the Special Industrial Package, which had been curtailed to March 2010, to its original announced period up to March 2013. He said it was the vision of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who understood the developmental requirements of the state. The union government should get the dues cleared from the neighbouring states on various accounts, so that the state could shoulder its developmental and social welfare responsibilities to keep pace with rest of the country, he added. |
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Uhl project goes the Larji way
Shimla, May 25 The board also has to fight a legal battle as the company has moved the high court against the rescinding of the contract. Work is at a standstill for the past two months and it will take quite sometime to get things moving again. The project has already fallen behind schedule by around 18 months and its cost has already gone up from Rs 432 crore to Rs 725 crore. Sources in the board said as things stand at the moment, the project may take two years or even more for completion. The cost was also likely to shoot up to over Rs 800 crore. The Beas Valley Power Corporation, a subsidiary of the board which is executing the project, has already started the exercise to revise the cost on the basis of March, 2008, prices. The BJP reviewed the progress of the project soon after assuming office and decided to rescind the contract of SSJV Projects Private Limited last month on the plea that the progress of work was not satisfactory. Managing director of the corporation O.P. Kapoor said the company had not been able to execute the work as per schedule. It was able to construct only 50 m to 60 m of tunnel as against the monthly target of 250 m. On the other hand, the company has put the blame for the delay on the board and cited abnormal delay in handing over possession of the site, non-handing over of the approved quarry for aggregate, delay in finalisation of drawings and delay in settling rates for extra items and excess quantities as the main reasons for the slow progress of work. Further, the rock strata was different from the one mentioned in the contract and the company was asked to carry out excavations through controlled blasting that slowed down the work. |
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Private Hydropower Enterprises
Chamba, May 25 He warned to launch an intensive agitation against the defaulter companies, if the administration failed to get the demands of locals fulfilled within a week. After holding a joint meeting of Block Congress Committee, Mahila Congress, Youth Congress Committee and National Students Union of India
(NSUI), Thakur Singh Bharmouri submitted an eleven-point demand charter to the additional district magistrate Bharmour on Saturday, raising a question mark on the working of private hydroelectric companies. In the demand charter, Bharmouri charged the companies with violating the norms of muck disposal being excavated from the project’s tunnel and other underground works, adding that the muck was not being disposed of on the earmarked
sites. Bharmouri alleged that the stone-crusher was installed in the project without official permission, thereby, adversely affecting the environment of the
area. Bharmouri slammed the apathy of the companies for not giving compensation to the
panchayats, where the land had been affected due to ongoing construction activities of the project. He criticised the inordinate delay in releasing the compensation to the farmers of affection
panchayats. |
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Speaker moots floriculture project
Chamba, May 25 Reviewing the working of various tribal development schemes in the first meeting of tribal advisory committee, he asked the authorities to submit the detailed project report on floriculture by August next so that the floriculture project could be got cleared from the government. The Speaker mooted the floriculture project for Bharmour seeing the fertility and suitability of the mountainous tribal region. |
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Highway blocked over suicide by youth
Solan, May 25 The protesters alleged that the police had failed to arrest the culprits, including a local hotelier who had been threatening them. Trouble started when Gaurav’s relatives and family members, who arrived from Delhi and Chandigarh, started pressing for the arrest of the hotelier and blamed the police for allegedly shielding him. Around 30 relatives of the deceased squatted on the highway in front of the Community Health Centre, Dharampur, where a post-mortem examination was being conducted, and started raising slogans against the police around 9 am. SDPO, Parwanoo, Ramesh Pathania had to summon additional force to keep the situation under control. The agitating mob was also lent support by a large number of local residents. This led to a traffic jam on the highway. The police had a terrible time trying to control the agitated relatives. A huge posse of police was posted to avert any untoward incident. According to Solan SP S.P.S. Verma, Gaurav had a tiff with Rishav, nephew of local hotelier Ved Garg, after the latter parked his motorcycle in front of the former’s shop. The incident, which took place on May 8, led to some animosity between the two families. The family of the deceased alleged the SP called them to his office on May 16 where he, along with the hotelier, allegedly browbeat them. In a written complaint, Gaurav’s mother Neeru Sharma has alleged that the SP and the hotelier had threatened them and that had sent Gaurav into depression. The mob raised slogans against the police and demanded the SP to come to the spot. Sensing the situation going out of the control, SDM Vivek Chandel and ADM Rakhil Kahlon also rushed to the spot with additional SP S.R. Rana. DC Amandeep Garg said he would seek a report from the SDM and the ADM as they had gone to the spot. An inquiry would be instituted into the case. Since the SP’s name had also figured in the allegations, a report would also be sent to the Home Department. DIG Pradeep Kumar said they would inquire into the matter, if a report was received in that regard. A case has been registered under Section 306 of the IPC for abetment to suicide against hotelier Ved Garg, his relatives Radhey Shayam, Sunil Garg, Baju (alias Ishwar), Rajkumar and his nephew Rishab. The SP maintained that he had merely tried to effect a compromise between the two parties and hence both were summoned to his office on May 16. He passed orders to send two policemen posted at the Dharampur police station, head constable Kishan and ASI D.R. Guleria, to the Police Lines as the family had complained that they had acted inappropriately. |
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Frequent power failures irk residents
Kullu, May 25 The complaint office at the industrial area remained unattended during the shutdowns. The complaint office at the Bhnutar advised the complainant to contact the industrial area complaint office. There was a walkie-talkie link between the Bhuntar and industrial area complaint offices, but the walkie-talkies had been withdrawn, further putting the local villagers into inconvenience of personally visiting the complaint office. There was a cut today from 10.30 am to 2.45 pm. The complaint office at the industrial area, as usual, remained unattended and the Bhuntar substation people confirmed that the power was on from their end. The Industrial Area Association at Shamshi has repeatedly requested the department for maintaining regular electricity supply. Erratic power supply might damage the machinery, besides causing loss of working man-hours and production, they added. They demanded that the complaint office at the industrial area should be provided with telephone link or walkie-talkie provisions to lodge complaints of power failures. The assistant engineer said he would look into the matter and inform, as he was unaware of today’s shut down. The executive engineer was also not available. |
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Preparations to make Prez visit special
Manali, May 25 Former President R. Ventaraman had visited the hill station in 1992. After that no President came here for a vacation. Now, a President would visit Manali after 16 years on May 29-30. Response to President’s visit among residents and tourists is mixed. Some say that they face inconvenience during the VVIP’s visit and free movement is restricted during the
visiting hours. “President’s visit would encourage tourism,” said Gautam Nath Thakur, president, Manali Hoteliers Association. It was former Prime Minister Pandit Jawahal Lal Nehru, who along with his family stayed in the circuit house in 1961-62, before Manali emerged as a popular hill station in the state. After that Atal Bihari Vajpayee further popularised Manali and made his private house at Prini village near here. Sources said the President would land here on May 29 and would stay in the “Old Manali circuit house”, which is being done tastefully to make her stay memorable. President would not address any public meeting, but she would visit the age-old
Hidimba temple. President would visit the popular skid row of the foreigners, the Vashisht hot springs bath and would probably take a holy dip there, as baths are said have therapeutic effects on human body, sources said. |
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Renovation work of Chowgan rued
Chamba, May 25 Chowgan, which is virtually a promenade, was made by the far-sighted rulers of erstwhile Chamba state for the purpose of convalescing the health and thus people call it a sanatorium. The government itself appears to have been violating the bylaws of the Chowgan for satisfying its need. Tall hoardings have been dug deep on the fringe of the Chowgan, which are an eyesore to its beauty thereby flouting the bylaws. These hoardings are also obstructing the flow of fresh air. According to official sources, more than Rs 50 lakh had been spent on the ongoing repair of the Chowgan and the work is now almost nearing completion. But it is not known to what extent the endeavour of conserving it would succeed. The local municipal council had expressed its dissatisfaction with almost half of the work of the Chowgan being executed for its conservation and regeneration and felt apprehension about its aftermaths. A resolution to this effect had been passed by the municipal council in its meeting presided over by its president Kusum Kumari in which the members of the council have opposed to the techniques adopted by agencies executing its renovation. The copies of resolution have been sent to the state urban development minister and the concerned authorities of the state government for information and necessary action. |
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Paprola ayurvedic institute to expand its pharmacy
Paprola (Dharamsala), May 25 Principal of the institute Dharminder Kumar Verma said three ayurvedic pharmacies at Paprola, Majra in Sirmaur and Joginder Nagar were not enough to cater to the demand of ayurvedic dispensaries in state. However, the new pharmacy at Paprola would solve the problem. The pharmacy will have the facility for research and development of new drugs. The college at Parola would also add 100 beds to the hospital here. The college already has a 100-bed hospital and the new hospital would take its capacity to 200 beds. With this, the ayurvedic hospital at Paprola would be the biggest hospital to treat patients with traditional and modern methods. It is the first institute of the region to train ayurvedic doctors in modern surgical methods like laparoscopy. Earlier, all ayurvedic doctors passing out from the Paprola-based ayurvedic college used to get absorbed in government service. However, the previous government discontinued the practice. In the past five years no ayurvedic doctor was recruited by the government. The present government has once again planned to recruit the doctors in the current financial year. According the principal of the institute, the ayurvedic doctors would also be recruited under the Rural Health Mission. The state has got a grant of Rs 18 crore under the scheme. |
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Defamation suit threatened against CMO
Palampur, May
25 Baba alleged the health authorities were harassing her and trying to tarnish the image of her institution. All this was being done under a conspiracy hatched by some local politicians and officers of the department, she added. She claimed nothing objectionable was found when a team, led by CMO
Dharamsala, inspected her hospital. Despite this, the authorities sealed the ultrasound machine, she added. She said she would move the court to seek justice. |
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CM urges PM to hike wheat quota
Shimla, May 25 The Chief Minister said the state had been demanding wheat allocation as per its requirements under the APL scheme but had been supplied a much lower quota as compared to the demand, which was based on the actual requirement of the consumers. He urged the Prime Minister to increase the wheat allotment quota to Himachal under the APL scheme and supply the remaining quota of wheat to the state on priority. Dhumal said the state had demanded 1,400 MT of imported soya refined oil from the
Centre. |
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Suspicious Death
Nurpur, May 25 “The Chamba police has failed to unravel the mystery and arrest the culprits, who hatched a conspiracy to eliminate my son, even after about two months of his suspicious death at Saridi village in the Bharmour tehsil on March 30.” He alleged that Praveen was threatened by his rival with dire consequences if he visited the Bharmour area for selling LIC policies. He rued that the police gave him the bag of his deceased son, which contained no LIC policy forms filled by him. His diary was also missing, which indicated that he had become a victim of a conspiracy. He alleged that the police had failed to interrogate the suspect. The family would now approach the Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal for a high-level probe into the suspicious death of his son. As, the police had been hushing up the case and its investigations were going at a snail’s pace. |
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Minor abducted, raped
Nurpur, May 25 Following a tip off, the police brought the girl, the prime accused Amit and co-accused Arpan from bus stand at Shahpur today. The girl, who is a student of a private senior secondary school at Pathankot, alleged that Amit promised to marry her and took her along. He kept her in a hotel room in Pathankot on May 23 and allegedly raped her. The co-accused Arpan allegedly assisted the main accused. The medical report of the victim confirms that the she was raped. The police booked Amit in minor rape case under Section 376 along with Sections 363 and 366(A) of the
IPC. |
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Man, daughter burnt alive
Solan, May 25 The fire came to notice when the windowpanes started breaking with loud noise. By the time neighbours could douse the fire, the duo had been burnt alive. An immediate relief of Rs 10,000 has been provided to the family by the administration. |
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Death condoled
Shimla, May 25 The Governor and the Chief Minister prayed to the Almighty to give peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family members to bear
the loss. |
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Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal said, “It’s people’s verdict on the failure of the UPA government and the previous state government. The voters are now waiting to install the BJP government at the Centre.”