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Land mafia active in state: Cong
Forest minister Nadda submits resignation
CM: Efforts on to merge PSUs
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Kullu murder mystery solved
Camp for fishermen held
Villagers go without water
Five hurt in mishap
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Land mafia active in state: Cong
Shimla, March 18 Participating in the debate on the Budget proposals for 2010-11 in the Assembly today, the Congress chief said land mafia was active in the state and the dilution by BJP regime in Section 118 had worsened the situation. “What is surprising is that names of certain ministers are linked to such deals,” he said. He also accused Health Minister Rajiv Bindal of compromising with corruption by reinstating State Drug Controller Sher Singh who was facing serious charges. “While many other officials facing similar charges have remained under suspension for years, Sher Singh was reinstated by Bindal against the recommendation of the Chief Minister and Secretray (Law),” he said. Accusing the government of under-assessing the value 96 bighas of land given to Patanjali Yogpeeth, he said only a pittance had been charged despite the fact that it was a commercial organisation having turnover of crores. “We respect Swami Ramdev but he is no longer a yog guru as he has floated a political outfit and giving land on lease for a nominal amount is wrong,” he said. He regretted that the Budget did not spell any austerity measures and on the contrary luxury cars were being bought. “The government must tax those who are in a position to pay rather than burden the common man and efforts must be made to prevail upon cement industries to share rail-line cost,” he said. BJP chief Khimi Ram said despite two Union Ministers from Himachal, the state was getting a raw deal while former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given a special package of Rs 4,00 crore to the state. “While some other states have got an increase of 126 per cent, Himachal was given an increase of only 50 per cent by the 13th Finance Commission,” he said. Cong MLA Kuldeep Singh Pathania said the Centre should not be blamed for less grant as the Finance Commission was an autonomous body and it was due to the signing of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill that grants are bound to reduce. Pathania suggested that an environment cess must be imposed to generate resources rather than burdening people by increasing VAT. BJP legislator Virender Kanwar said the CM had presented an all-welfare Budget despite economic recession. “The state lost out on its special category status due to presentation of wrong facts before the 9th Finance Commission,” he said.
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Forest minister Nadda submits resignation
Shimla, March 18 However, there is still speculation whether Chief Minister PK Dhumal would accept his resignation immediately or would delay an immediate decision on the issue. Keeping in view the political scenario, there is a possibility that he would buy time by letting Nadda continue for some more time. Anticipating Nadda’s exit from the Cabinet, the Chief Minister was already under tremendous pressure for filling up the lone vacancy. Inducting a minister would prove to be a ticklish task for him as striking regional and caste balance could lead to problems. The list of aspirants for the Cabinet post is already long with names of legislators like Randhir Sharma, Roop Singh Thakur and Harinaraian Saini doing the rounds.
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CM: Efforts on to merge PSUs
Shimla, March 18 “Only eight of the 25 PSUs are registering nominal profit so we have initiated process of their merger after a Cabinet decision before the Ministry of Corporate Affairs,” he said. Either the PSUs should perform or there would be no other option but to merge them, he added. Dhumal said it was due to lack of professionalism, over staffing, deviation from mandate and unregulated growth, which had landed them in the red. “Efforts for disinvestments also failed as nobody is keen to take up loss making PSUs and the government is not in a position to bail them out every time,” he claimed. He said applications were being filed under Section 391(94) of Corporate Act, 1956, for merger of Nahan Foundry with the HP Small Industries Development Corporation (HPSIDC) and of the HP Small Scale Industrial and Export Corporation (HPSSIEC) with the HPSIDC. He said problems were being faced in the merger because there were a total of 740 employees in these PSUs. “Though, in case of certain PSUs like the State Transport Corporation and Electricity Board, the government has a social responsibility and special grants are given to bail them out from time to time,” Dhumal said. There was a liability of Rs 2.74 crore on the government, as salaries had not been paid to employees of the Agro Industries Corporation for the past some time, he added. In reply to another query by BJP MLA Vipin Parmar, the House was informed that 37 rural haats were being set up in the state to provide a platform to artisans and craftsmen to display and sell their products. “A sum of Rs 2.02 crore has been received from the Centre and these haats will be set up at the village, district and state-level,” said Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
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Kullu murder mystery solved
Kullu, March 18 However, Aninder’s father Jasbir Singh still suspects that his daughter has been kept in the hiding or has been sold as the “police had stated in the media that his daughter would be traced as she was safe”. He further alleged that the police did not arrest Bakshi Ram on January 4 when they had lodged the complaint. “The Ani police only lodged the FIR on January 12 when I brought the matter to the SP,” he rued. He said Bakshi Ram and his family members had opposed Aninder’ marriage to Praveen and now they were concocting the story. “If the police has registered a case of murder, why has it not recovered her body,” he questioned. In fact, the double-bench of the high court, headed by Justice Surjit Singh and Justice Rajiv Sharma, constituted the SIT after Jasbir approached the high court in February. The high court, on February 26, directed the police to produce Aninder or her body in the court within one month and submit a detailed report of investigation. Kullu SP KK Indoria, who is heading the SIT, said, “We have arrested Bakshi Ram in connection with the case and other two accused Praveen and his cousin are already lodged at Kanda jail. The police has registered a case of kidnapping and murder.” Indoria said the accused kidnapped Aninder from Ani on January 4 and allegedly murdered her on the way in Kullu before they threw her body into the Sutlej at Badu on the Ani-Luri road. However, the police had not recovered the body so far, he added. Indoria said Bakshi Ram was arrested three days ago and was remanded in police custody. Efforts were afoot to trace the body of the victim, he added. |
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Camp for fishermen held
Nurpur, March 18 He educated fishermen about latest techniques of fishing. The fishermen were also informed about various welfare schemes launched for them. As many as 120 fishermen of the Fisheries Cooperative Society at Pong Dam reservoir attended the camp. |
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Villagers go without water
Sundernagar, March 18 They said this was not the first time and in the past too, such incidents had taken place. SDO of the IPH subdivision at Kanaid Prem Singh said he received the information this morning and had asked the JE to restore the supply immediately. —
OC
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Five hurt in mishap
Hamirpur, March 18 The five injured persons have been identified as Ajay Kumar, Anil Kumar, Amarjeet, Dharmender and Kishan, all residents of Uttar Pradesh. They have been admitted to the government hospital at Bhoranj. The police has registered a case. |
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