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| Wednesday, February 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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HVC
divided over Solan seat Meeting reviews building
construction in HP Solang vale decked up for Winter
Games Kangra police detains 10 Kashmiris Fall in murder rate |
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Hoteliers seek
concessions Stop misuse of madarsas: VHP Srivastava heads institute
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HVC divided over Solan seat SHIMLA, Feb 1 — With a section of the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) asking the party candidate, Mr Haminder Thakur, to withdraw from the contest for the byelection to the Solan Assembly seat, the top leadership of the party is virtually split on the issue. The HVC chief, Mr Sukh Ram, alone was in favour of fielding Mr Haminder Thakur. Senior minister Mohinder Singh and the lone party member in the Lok Sabha, Mr Dhani Ram Shandil, were reportedly against the move. They did not want the party to field candidate against the nominee of the BJP with which it is running a coalition government in the state. It is learnt that Mr Mohinder Singh and Mr Shandil along with the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, made a brief halt at Solan last night while returning from Chandigarh. They told an impromptu gathering of office-bearers that the HVC candidate should withdraw his nomination papers. The other minister of the HVC, Mr Ram Lal Markanda, has not yet made up his mind on the issue, it is reported. The differences within the HVC were visible yesterday when from among the party legislators, Mr Sukh Ram alone accompanied Mr Haminder Thakur to the office of the Returning Officer for filing papers. None of the HVC ministers, including Mr Mohinder Singh and Mr Markanda, were present on the occasion. It is learnt that certain BJP and HVC ministers visited Solan and Kandaghat today in a bid to persuade Mr Thakur and the BJP rebel, Mr Neter Singh, to withdraw from the contest. The Chief Minister said the issue would be resolved within a day or two through dialogue as neither the BJP and nor the HVC was interested in "damaging mutual cooperation". Senior BJP leaders claim the issue of contesting the byelection for the seat had been discussed with Mr Sukh Ram several times and it was wrong to say that he was kept in the dark. They claim it was made clear to him that the local leadership of the BJP would have on objection in giving the seat to him in case the party high command so desired. Mr Sukh Ram told mediapersons at Solan yesterday that it was for the first time that Mr Dhumal had not taken him into confidence over seat sharing. A senior functionary of the HVC claimed Mr Mohinder Singh had endorsed the decision to field Mr Haminder Thakur at meeting of office-bearers of the party. Now he had backed out. Others point out that initially Mr Mohinder Singh had espoused the candidature of Mr Thakur but later changed stand as he did want any hitch in the functioning of the coalition. Mr Dhumal is learnt to
have talked to Mr Mohinder Nath Sofat, who was denied the
party ticket, and taken the initiative to sink
differences on the issue. Mr Sofat is learnt to have made
it clear that despite having been denied the ticket, he
will campaign for the party candidate, Mr Rajeev Bindal. |
Meeting reviews building
construction in HP SHIMLA, Feb 1 — A high-level meeting was held here today to review the progress of various official buildings and residential houses being constructed with the assistance of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) in the state. Buildings worth Rs 155 crore are being constructed with the assistance of HUDCO in the state. This year a provision of Rs 22 crore was made initially for the purpose which had been increased to Rs 32 crore. Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, presided over the meeting. It was decided at the meeting that while constructing official buildings and residential houses in the state, wasteful expenditure should be avoided and buildings should be constructed economically. Deviation from original plan, if any, needed in between construction should not be made at lower level but with the approval of Secretary PWD, buildings in earthquake-prone areas should be made in such a way that much damage was not done, in case of any eventuality. Mr Dhumal further directed that the model for specific government buildings and residential houses should be prepared by the Public Works Department which could be adopted for construction all over the state by the respective departments. He said that model for zonal hospitals buildings should be prepared at once as zonal hospitals in all districts were likely to be started soon as had already been decided by the government. The Chief Minister directed to complete the buildings of Indira Gandhi Medical College, 2nd phase, Shimla, State Ayurvedic Hospital, Shimla, Dental College and High Court Shimla and Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda and Polytechnic College, Gagrat as soon as possible. He directed that the building of Degree College, Theog, should also be constructed on priority basis as government intend to start classes there from 2000-2001 session. It was informed in the
meeting that out of 906 police quarters being constructed
in the state, 630 have been completed and 170 were at the
completion stage and remaining would be completed within
next six months. The work on five police station
buildings was also in progress. |
Solang vale decked up for
Winter Games MANALI: Solang Valley, 13 km from Manali town, and 4 km north west of Palchan village, is not only famous for its scenic beauty but has attained popularity for winter sports and other adventure activities like mountaineering, trekking and para-gliding. Today it is a popular venue with adventure lovers and tourists who visit this enchanting valley, both in winter and summer. The valley offers one of the most spectacular ski slopes in the western Himalayas and extensive views of the Pir Panjal ranges. After the season's first snowfall in this region early this week the Solang valley comes alive with enthusiastic skiers. Solang ski slopes which is a paradise for skiers is all set with its snow-laden slopes to host the second national Winter Games. The second national Winter Games begin in Solang nullah from February 4 to 10. The Winter Games are being organised by Himachal Pradesh Government through the Directorate of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali, in collaboration with the Indian Olympic Association and the Winter Games Federation of India. According to sources in the directorate, as many as 20 teams from all over India are expected to participate in the skiing competitions. Nearly 500 skiers drawn from different parts of the country would participate in the Games. According to official sources, the competitions will be held in various ski events for both men and women. The events organised at Solang slopes are alpine slalom, giant slalom and Nordic skiing (15 km), free-style (men) and 4x10 km relay. Skiing in Solang valley was introduced in 1971 by the Mountaineering Institute, Manali, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) used to participate in big groups in training courses. The Directorate extends a number of facilities for trainees, which includes two hostels of 90-bed capacity, and a 325-metre ski lift is available for the trainees and a portable ski lift is also available for the use by the trainees. Solang Valley is also host to Winter Games championships. The last were held in 1989, 1992, 1995 and 1996. A number of local youths have taken up this winter games with great zeal and have risen to fame on the national as well as international arenas. The first winter carnival and all-India open skiing competition was organised at Solang ski slopes by the Mountaineering Institute in 1976. The Directorate has organised 14 all-India winter carnivals (skiing competitions) and nine all-India summer skiing festivals. The Rohtang pass is closed to vehicular traffic due to heavy snow en route and remains closed till summer. On account of this, the Solang ski slopes have become the biggest winter attraction with hundreds of domestic and foreign visitors thronging it every day to play in snow balls, riding on snowmobile and sledges. This year Manali and its environs experienced a late snowfall with the winter's first snowfall. A number of small temporary shops have come up at Solang nullah offering, snow-shoes, overcoats, woollen garments and caps. This has become a source of livelihood to the residents of Kulang, Palchan, Kothi, Burua and Solang villages. However, the 4-km link
road between Palchan village to Solang ski slopes has
been reopened to vehicular traffic. |
Kangra police detains 10
Kashmiris KANGRA, Feb 1 — The Kangra police today detained 10 Kashmiris at a Dharamsala here for interrogation. The district police chief, Mr K.C. Sadiyal, today said the police was verifying their antecedents from the Jammu and Kashmir police. He said the district police was in touch with the Jammu and Kashmir police in this regard. The detained Kashmiris were being interrogated following the information that certain Kashmiri militants might have sneaked into the State. The number of Kashmiris in this district has gone up considerably during the past one month. Most of them sell shawls and blankets. According to sources, the number of the unregistered Kashmiris in the district was manifold more than those of the registered ones, the district police chief, Mr K.C. Sadiyal, confirmed. A strict vigil was being kept over such Kashmiris, he added. Meanwhile, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, northern range, Mr I.D. Bhandari, said the police has tightened security in the sensitive areas of Chamba district bordering Jammu and Kashmir. He said village defence committees have been formed. The villagers have been given training in arms. The DIG said strict
vigil was being kept on the suspected routes of
militants. The very sensitive areas were being kept under
the vigil of the ITBP and Central security forces. |
Fall in murder rate DHARAMSALA, Feb 1 — There has been a decrease in the number of murders in the districts of Kangra, Chamba and Una this year as compared to previous years. Stating this here yesterday the DIG, Mr I.D. Bhandari, said in the Kangra range comprising the three districts, the total number of murders had come down to 43 in 1999 as compared to 63 in 1998. In Kangra the number had come down from 37 to 30, in Chamba from 11 to five and in Una from 15 to eight. Also there was a decrease in the abduction rate of women. In Kangra it had come down from 29 to 21, in Chamba from 14 to 12 and in Una from seven to five. The total number of cases had come down from 50 to 38 cases. There had been a
significant improvement in the percentage of conviction
in murder cases. He said for the sake of convenience of
the public, every SHO had been directed to provide a copy
of the FIR or the entry in the daily diary to the
complainant. |
Hoteliers seek concessions MANDI, Feb 1 — The Mandi Hoteliers Association yesterday demanded that the government should give incentives to the hotel industry in order to promote tourism in the state. It called upon the govenment to do away with the present system of charging minimum amount on the basis of the total electric load even if no power was consumed. While the total duration of the tourist season in the state was less than three months the hotels had to pay for the 12 months on the basis of load. The association regretted that while the hotels had been identified as a industry, the commercial rates were being charged which were the highest. It was demanded that industries rates should be charged from hotels. It was pointed out that while concession amounting to over Rs 200 crore was being lavished on the cement industry the tourism industry was being subjected to discrimination and hardships. It was also lamented that the luxury tax rate was the highest in the country in Himachal Pradesh and demanded that it should either be abolished or slashed down like in other states. No luxury tax should be charged where room rent is Rs 200 or less. Earlier the following
office-bearers were unanimously elected: president —
Mr Munish Sood; vice-presidents — Mr Manjit Singh
and Mr Manoj Kumar; general secretary — Mr Karamjit
Singh; and treasurer — Mr Lalit Behal. Mr Har Datt
Sharma, Mr Jaswinder Singh and Mr Kishori Lal were
appointed advisers. |
Stop misuse of madarsas: VHP SHIMLA, Feb 1 — The state unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has expressed concern over the increasing activities of the Pakistan intelligence agency ISI and Kashmiri militants in the state and demanded effective steps to prevent the use of madarsas for anti-national activities. The parishad said the recovery of audio cassettes of the freed militant, Masood Azhar, from the maulvi of a mosque in Yol Camp and the disclosure by some arrested ISI agents that they had been operating from a madarsa in Mishrawalan clearly indicated that anti-national elements had found a footing in the state. It denounced the outburst of the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, against the Bajrang Dal. The state unit of the
Bajrang Dal has also condemned Mr Digvijay Singh's
announcement that he would not allow the Dal to hold its
conference in Bhopal. |
Srivastava heads institute SHIMLA, Feb 1 — Prof VC Srivastava, an eminent historian, has been appointed Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study for a three-year term. The post has been lying vacant since July last when Prof Mrinal Miri relinquished charge after completing two terms as the head of the prestigious institute. Prof Srivastava is the tenth Director of the institute. He was holding the Prof Mohindra Chandra Nandi Chair at Banaras Hindu University prior to this. Author of several books,
Prof Srivastava has been regularly contributing articles
in various national and international journals. Books
written by him include "Sun-Worship in Ancient
India" and "Archaeology in Afghanistan". |
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