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Cong protesters lathi-charged, many injured
Govt encouraging land mafia: Cong
Congress protest a flop show: BJP
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Govt approaches PM over package extension
Lack of space on campus
Heat breaks all records
Water level starts depleting
Admn gears up for IPL matches
Ritu suicide case
SC rejects Thind’s plea for probe by central agency
Teacher held with solved answer sheets
‘Reduce seats in dental colleges’
Naxals’ effigy burnt
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Cong protesters lathi-charged, many injured
Shimla, April 9 Trouble arose when party activists led by Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes and PCC chief Kaul Singh were stopped by the police near the Vidhan Sabha. While the two leaders were allowed to proceed further, the rest of the crowd was stopped from moving any further as a result of which a scuffle ensued. The police used force to disperse the protesters who ran in all directions and some of them ended up on the Cart Road. In the resulting chaos general secretary of the Youth Congress Manish Thakur was hit and overrun by a private vehicle. He was taken to the local IGMC hospital immediately with multiple injuries and his condition was stated to be serious. Infuriated over the incident the crowd turned violent, beat up the driver and damaged the vehicle. Kaul Singh alleged that the police unnecessarily stopped the workers, who were on way to the Cart Road to return home, and resorted to unprovoked lathi charge causing injuries to many. However, superintendent of police R.M.Sharma said the unruly crowd pelted stones on policemen and tried to enter the Vidhan Sabha complex, leaving no option for the police but to use mild force to disperse the crowd . In the process the station house officer of Boileauganj police station Khajana Ram was injured. He said the entire incident had been video graphed and those indulging in violence had been identified. Only preventive arrests had
been made. Kaul Singh and Stokes condemned the police action and said yesterday the activists of Left parties deflated tyres of vehicles, blocked traffic at numerous places but no action was taken. Today, the police rained lathis on peaceful protesters only because the Congress rally was a resounding success. They demanded an inquiry into the incident and said that the party men, who were eyewitness to the whole incident, would file an FIR against the police which was responsible for the injury caused to Manish Thakur. A veteran leader Krishna Mohini was among those injured, while former minister Asha Kumari was among those arrested. |
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Govt encouraging land mafia: Cong
Shimla, April 9 Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh said the BJP government had been pursuing single-point agenda to oblige outsiders at the cost of state by granting them permission to acquire land in the state in the name of industrialisation, setting up private universities and other pretexts. Now, it had come out with a proposal to amend Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act to open flood gates for the outsiders. Huge chunks of land had been acquired by the outsiders on various pretexts and private universities were being sanctioned on wholesale without any need. The real objective of all such policies being pursued in the name of speeding up development was to encourage land mafia. Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes alleged that Congressmen were being victimised and harassed by implicating them in false cases. The Dhumal government had two different laws for dealing with the Congress and the BJP. The most glaring example of it was the video CD case involving BJP MP Virneder Kashyap, who was seen accepting money from a private party on camera, but he was given a clean chit even without getting the CD examined by forensic experts. She then cited the example of FIR registered against Chopal MLA Subhash Manglait in this regard. The plight of the common man, particularly Congress workers, could be imagined in such a situation. She reiterated the demand of the party for a CBI probe into the video CD case as the inquiry by state police was only a cover-up exercise. She also mentioned the suicide of Ritu Kalmotia, in which an Inspector-General of Police and his son were involved. The attitude of the government had forced the parents of the deceased to approach the high court to seek a CBI inquiry. |
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Congress protest a flop show: BJP
Shimla, April 9 In a statement issued here today, party spokesperson Ganesh Dutt said the Congress’ claim of a massive anti-government show had proved to be false as hardly any workers came here from other parts of the state. “The fact is that the Congress has no issues against the BJP regime led by Chief Minister PK Dhumal,” he said. He added that the Opposition was merely performing a formality by holding protest even though there was no real issue. He also termed the “rasta roko” by CPM activists as wrong as it caused inconvenience to the public. “Everyone has the right to protest but not at the cost of others’ convenience as schoolchildren, as well as patients, faced great problem during the CPM protest,” he said. |
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Govt approaches PM over package extension
Dharamsala, April 9 This was stated by Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor while talking to The Tribune here today. Kapoor said he, along with Chief Minister PK Dhumal, had sought time from the Prime Minister on April 20. However, till date, the meeting had not been fixed, he added. The Prime Minister is scheduled to return from his foreign tour on April 19. The BJP leaders from the state have sought time on April 20 as it would coincide with nationwide protest planned by their party against price rise on April 21. When asked if the Congress leaders would also accompany them to the Prime Minister, Kapoor said they were free to do so. “We have already invited them to join the government on the issue. However, the statements issued by senior leaders of the state Congress regarding the utility of package have already raised doubts about their intentions,” he said. When asked if the BJP would launch a state-wide agitation in case the industrial package was not extended, Kapoor said the option was open in case communications with the Union government failed to yield any results. He said the logic of the Union government that it was losing tax revenue due to package to Himachal was illogical. He also flayed the Congress leaders for questioning the benefits of the industrial package to the state. He said the benefits could be seen with the development in industrial areas of the state. The prices of land had gone up in the state and people of state had ventured into self-employment ventures. The issue of industrial package extension is likely to generate political heat after the IPL matches at Dharamsala. Presently, the entire state machinery is concentrating making the IPL matches as success. The BJP, that was cornered by the Congress on the issue of controversial CDs involving a party MP, might hit back at Congress leaders for failing to protect the interests of the state in case of industrial package. The Congress leaders in the state are finding it hard to defend themselves on the issue. They are raising irrational logic as the present government weakened its stand by demanding extension of industrial package till 2020. However, it might affect the prospects of the party in lower areas of the state that have extracted maximum benefits from the package. |
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Lack of space on campus
Mandi/Kullu, April 9 The JNV has refused fresh admissions to the batch of 20 students for Kullu test, which is scheduled for tomorrow, citing lack of accommodation on the campus as the reason. According to the parents, their wards have not received the roll numbers from the JNV despite the fact that the school is conducting the admission test tomorrow. “The JNV has denied us the opportunity to sit in the examination on the ground that the school does not have accommodation,” they resented. “The school has been admitting students from Kullu for the past four years. However, to our utter dismay, it has refused fresh admission,” the parents said. Mandi JNV at Pandoh, in fact, had already admitted 120 students from Kullu district in four batches. However, this year, it has refused to accommodate the fifth batch on the ground that it has no accommodation. Though the Kullu JNV was notified as B-category school about four years ago, the HRD ministry failed to provide accommodation to the school in Kullu district. School principal Sushma Goswami, when quizzed on the issue, told The Tribune admissions were refused as they did not have enough accommodation on the campus. “We have already enrolled over 600 students, including 120 from Kullu. However, we cannot accommodate more as this school is meant for students from Mandi district,” the principal said. Goswami said the JNV management had asked the Kullu district administration to give them space free of cost to run the school in Kullu, but to no avail. “We have got the land for the JNV at Kullu, but the construction will take another two to three years,” she added. She said students from Kullu would be asked to appear in a special test along with the students from Kaza in June
this year. |
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Heat breaks all records
Shimla, April 9 Today was the warmest day of the season with the mercury soaring to 27.3 degrees Celsius in the state capital. What is worst is that there seems to be no hope of rain in the near future as water levels are already showing signs of depletion with summer yet to begin in the true sense. “Records of the warmest March since 1901 have already been broken in Sundernagar and Dharamsala while in Shimla this was the warmest summer equalling the highest of March, 2004, in the last century,” said Manmohan Singh, Director of the local Meteorological
centre. The average maximum temperatures in March, 2004, and 2010 were 21.5, the highest since 1901. The reduction in water levels leading to reduced pumping by almost 40 per cent at the Ashwani
khud, one of the main water sources for the state capital, has set the alarm bells ringing for the Irrigation and Public Health
(IPH) Department. With little hope of rain, chances of recharging are bleak which in turn would affect other water supply schemes as well. As per the forecast there was a very mild western disturbance (WD) positioned over Jammu and Kashmir but that would bring little respite as only higher reaches are expected to get mild showers. “Seeing the unusually high temperatures and a great deviation in temperatures we today wrote to
IPH, horticulture and agriculture departments to assess the impact that the high temperatures would have on water supply, crops and fruits,” said Manmohan Singh. As part of its preparedness to tackle the situation, the IPH authorities have already identified the 12 water stressed blocks in the state, six of which fall in Bilaspur and
Hamirpur. “Besides an enhanced allocation of Rs 2.22 crore for drinking water sector, the revenue department has made an allocation of Rs 6 crore for taking stabilising measures which we intend taking down to the sub- divisional level,” said Narinder
Chauhan, secretary, IPH. He said it was also being proposed to lay stress on traditional methods of water recharging through measures like construction of dykes. It is learnt that the State Water Management Board too was ensuring that steps like roof top water harvesting are taken to meet the scarcity. |
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Water level starts depleting
Hamirpur, April 9 According to an assessment made by IPH officials on the basis of discharge of water in several drinking water schemes, the level has gone down by 15 to 20 per cent in surrounding areas of Hamirpur. Officials of the IPH department seem to be worried over this as the depletion of water level in drinking water schemes would have direct impact on the drinking water supplied to people through these schemes. “Although, at present, water supply from these schemes has not been affected much and is normal in most of the areas, the depletion of water level would definitely create scarcity of water in the extreme summer months,” feel IPH authorities. The water level in eight IPH schemes has gone down at least one month early as per the discharge of water recorded in these schemes gathered by the IPH officials. The schemes where depletion in water level has been reported are Karada, Chowki-Amroh, Masiana-Bazuri, Baldoohak, Chamiana, Longi-Bhumpal and Jeehan. Meanwhile, executive engineer of Hamirpur IPH SK Dhiman has also confirmed depletion of water level in these drinking water schemes. Dhiman said, “We regularly record water discharge in our drinking water schemes and on the basis of this data, we have observed 15 to 20 per cent depletion in water level of about eight schemes.” Though water supply in these schemes at present is normal, but shortfall in rains can definitely create water scarcity in the coming season. However, we are prepared to make an alternative arrangement to supply drinking water, he added. |
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Admn gears up for IPL matches
Dharamsala, April 9 As per the traffic map, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, the administration has created a parking lot for vehicles coming from Palampur road at Dari. People would either have to walk more than 2 km to the cricket stadium from Dari parking or take a local bus. Buses have been deployed especially for the purpose. For people coming from Kangra side, a car parking has been created at the police grounds. From police ground, the people would have to walk about 1 km to the stadium. A motorcycle parking has also been created at the government college. A parking lot is also available at SAI grounds near the cricket stadium. However, that is likely
to be reserved for VIP vehicles. As the Chief Minister, all MLAs, ministers and even the heads of various departments are being invited for the IPL matches, the parking near SAI stadium would be full with VIP vehicles. The road leading from the circuit house to
Martyrs Park and stadium has been reserved as the VIP road. The Civil Lines road of Dharamsala in front of the centre point building would be used for one way traffic. The officials, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they were not worried about the start of match. However, when the match finishes at 11 pm, jams can choke the traffic at some places. The officials are also advising the locals against bringing out their vehicles during the
match hours. |
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Ritu suicide case
Shimla, April 9 While issuing the notice, a division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice RB Misra also directed the state authorities to file their reply by April 28. The petitioner alleged that her daughter was in constant touch with Siddharth, a judicial officer and son of IG (Law and Order) Pradeep Kumar Sarpal. He stated that his daughter could not have ended her life and hence the investigations be handed over to the CBI. Sampuran Singh Kalmotia, father of the deceased, further alleged in his petition that to bring forth the truth in a high-profile case like this where a judicial officer and son of an IG was allegedly involved, the CBI inquiry was necessary. The petitioner has also attached details of phone calls between Ritu and Siddharth during the month of March. The two had known each other for the past 15 years since their school days. A case has already been registered against the IG, his wife and son under Sections 306 and 201 of the IPC for abetment to suicide and causing destruction of evidence. The government had handed over the inquiry to the CID wing of the police. The case will come up for further hearing on April 28. |
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SC rejects Thind’s plea for probe by central agency
New Delhi, April 9 “Being a police officer, you do not have faith in your own organisation,” a Bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice Deepak Verma observed and made it clear that the apex court would not entertain such petitions. Appearing for Thind, senior counsel KL Gupta said the ruling party had prepared the charge sheet against his client even before coming to power and had incorporated it in the election manifesto. It was unfortunate that the government was treating this way a highly decorated police officer, he contended. He pleaded for issue of notice to the state government and the court could dismiss the petition if the state denied the allegations. He made another plea that the investigations should be conducted at least by some officer from Punjab or Haryana. “How can a Punjab or Haryana officer go to Himachal to conduct the investigation? It is not possible under the CrPC,” the CJI ruled during the arguments. Advising Thind to approach the High Court or the court where the case was pending, Justice Verma said “ the High Court will be able to appreciate your apprehensions”. |
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Teacher held with solved answer sheets
Hamirpur, April 9 The lecturer, working at Senior Secondary School, Bajhadi, was going along with his wife, who is the principal of the school, when the Vigilance team raided his car (HP 21A-6666) near Ghodi-Dabhidi. The team was still ascertaining the reason why the answer sheets, meant for table marking, were being taken away from the school premises by the lecturer. Meanwhile, Prof CL Gupta, chairman, HP Board of School Education, said, “We are trying to find out if any tampering has been done with the answer sheets after which appropriate action will be taken.”
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‘Reduce seats in dental colleges’
Shimla, April 9 A delegation of the association today met Chief Minister PK Dhumal to apprise him of the problems being faced by them. “During the past two-and-a-half years, only 12 posts of dental doctors have been filled while a total of 340 students pass out after doing BDS every year,” said Dr Gulab Sharma, president of the association. The association demanded that dental medical officers be appointed at the PHC and CHC-level not only to provide jobs to the pass outs, but also to ensure that people were conscience about dental health.
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Naxals’ effigy burnt
Mandi, April 9 The activists, supported by the students’ council association of Postgraduate College, Mandi, staged protest march demanding elimination of Naxals from the country. ABVP leaders Ajay Kumar and SCA president Abhinav Guleria condemned the killings and blamed the Centre for it.
— TNS
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