 |
| Monday, May 29, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
PM in Manali on vacation Jaikrishan Sharma to be HP BJP
chief Virbhadra’s caution on
tenancy Act Pensioners demand DA instalments |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Himachal to produce off-season
vegetables Resentment over foundation stone Prowling leopard causes panic DAV school wins flower show trophy Judge transferred to Shimla Contract jobs for private
institution’s staff Contractors’ body threatens
to stop work Six killed as Jeep falls into khud
|
PM in Manali on vacation MANALI, May 28 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, arrived here today on a 10-day visit. A helicopter carrying Mr Vajpayee landed at SASE helipad where he was received by the Himachal Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri and Uttar Pradesh Governor , Mr Suraj Bhan, who is on a visit to Himachal. The Prime Minister drove straight to his house at Prini by car where he will stay till June 7. This is Mr Vajpayee’s second visit to Himachal Pradesh this summer. During his stay at Manali the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of 800 MW Kol Dam project near Sundernagar on June 5, visit tribal areas of Lahaul and Leh in Kashmir. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the visit of the Prime Minister. Earlier, on his arrival at Bhuntar airport he was received by the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Mr Shanta Kumar, the Speaker, Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, the BJP chief
and MP, Mr Suresh Chandel, the Public Works Department
Minister , Mr Mohinder Singh, the Minister of State for
Primary Education, Mr Karan Singh, the HVC chief Mr Sukh
Ram, Mr Maheswar Singh, MP, Mr Anil Sharma, MP, the Chief
Secretary Mr A.K. Goswami, and the DGP, Mr T.R. Mahajan. |
Jaikrishan Sharma to be HP BJP
chief SHIMLA, May 28 — Mr Jaikrishan Sharma, a hardcore RSS man, is all set to don the mantle of state BJP chief, election for which is slated for May 30. Mr Sharma emerged as a consensus candidate with the intervention of the Sangh top brass and the party high command which endorsed the viewpoint of Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, that a change was needed to balance "caste equations". With both the Chief Minister and the state party chief belonging to the Rajput community, bringing in a Brahmin to replace Mr Suresh Chandel, the president incumbent, would be politically beneficial for the party, the Dhumal camp emphasised. Initially, the name of Mr Maheshwar Singh, a former party president, and Mr Chandel emerged for the party post, but unanimity proved elusive as the rival Shanta camp favoured a second term for the latter. Eventually, Mr Sharma, who enjoyed the full backing of the Sangh Parivar and the Chief Minister, emerged as the top contender. The Shanta camp fell in line after the intervention of the party high command and the Sangh top brass. The biggest point in Mr Sharma’s favour is that he is non-controversial and never involved himself in the faction fight. His credentials as an all-out organisation man are acknowledged by the Shanta camp and it was for this reason it agreed to his elevation to the post in case a change was unavoidable. Throwing up the name of a hardcore RSS man was a shrewd move on the part of the Chief Minister, who did not favour Mr Chandel as he had crossed over to the Shanta camp to get a second term. Since Mr Chandel himself ramained an RSS wholetimer for over eight years, any person with a non-RSS background would not have been able to dislodge him. Mr Narinder Modi, all-India BJP general secretary and in charge of Himachal affairs, who has a good equation with Mr Dhumal, played a crucial role in convincing the party high command that a change was in the best interest of the party. It appears that the damage caused to the party by the "Jwalamukhi episode" is fresh in the mind of the party high command which intervened before the tussle between the rival camps could escalate into an open war. The election scheduled for Tuesday is, thus, likely to be a low-key affair. If all goes well, only one nomination will be filed tomorrow and the election will be merely a formality. Meanwhile, elections up
to the district level except in the case of snow-bound
Lahaul-Spiti, have been completed. The following have
been elected presidents of various district units of the
party: Mr Dulo Ram — Kangra; Mr K.K. Gupta —
Chamba; Mr Subhash Sahore — Una; Mr Baldev Sharma
— Hamirpur; Mr Lakhwinder Rana — Solan; Mr
Dinesh Sen — Kulu; Mr Dalip Thakur — Sirmaur;
Mr Gian Chander — Shimla; Mr Joginder Negi —
Kinnaur; and Mr Jai Ram Thakur — Mandi. |
Virbhadra’s caution on tenancy Act SOLAN, May 28 — The Leader of Congress Legislature Party, Virbhadra Singh, said here today that the proposed government move to regularise encroachments and illegal constructions was aimed at benefiting select and influential people close to the ruling parties and would end up harming the interests of a cross section of small land owners of the State. Mr Singh, who addressed a press conference here today said that Mr P.K. Dhumal Government had assumed vast powers by getting the H.P. Town & Country Planning Act and the H.P. Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, passed in the last Assembly session. "The Chief Minister had, in response to criticism from Congress benches, assured the House that suitable regulatory rules would be framed under the amended Acts to ensure that the increased powers obtained by amending the two Acts, were not abused by lower level functionaries while examining cases of encroachments and violations of Section 118 of the H.P. Tenancy and Land Reforms Act." This section prohibited sale of agricultural land to non-Himachalis and was basically framed to ensure that the poor land owners of the state were not exploited by the land and building mafia. Mr Singh said that instead of honouring the solemn promise made by him on the floor of the House the Chief Minister had initiated hasty moves to regularise encroachments on a large scale. This was going to benefit only a select coterie of rich and influential people belonging to the ruling parties or persons close to the government "as most of the encroachments and violations had been done by such people." He warned that the Congress would mount a strict vigil on this front and would oppose any move by the government to pass on undue benefits to it’s henchmen at the cost of the poor people of the State. The former Chief Minister also criticised the recent government step to fill up vacant posts of teachers and lecturers by appointing ‘outsiders’. He said that this was a cruel joke on the eligible jobless Himachalis. He wondered if Himachal Pradesh did not have enough qualified persons to fill such vacancies. Mr Virbhadra Singh, in a lighter vein, urged the Chief Minister to forget about his Jalandhar connections at least as long as he was the Chief Minister so that the people of the State and not outsiders got their due. He also charged the BJP-HVC combine with "failing to fulfil their electoral promises". He said that the BJP in it’s manifesto had said that it would get the trans-Giri area people of Sirmour district the status of tribals and also that all shamlat lands would be transferred to people. Both these promises had not been fulfilled. He also castigated the Government over it’s decision to grant OBC status to people of Chhota and Bara Bhangal areas of Kangra district. He said that the people of these areas had been demanding the status of Scheduled Tribes, which they infact were, and not that of the OBC. Even otherwise it was absurd to confer the status of OBC on the basis of region and not caste. He described all reports
to the effect that Mr Sukh Ram was about to be admitted
to the Congress as absurd and baseless. |
Cremation ground awaits revival PARWANOO, May 28 — Though this town has come up on the industrial map of the world, but, the cremation ground here is still in a state of neglect. When the town came into existence about 30 years ago, residents used to take the dead to Kaushalya Khud near Kamli village about 3 km from here. When the villagers objected, residents of this town along with officials of the then Notified Area Committee of Parwanoo approached the Himachal Pradesh Housing Board to get some land for building a cremation ground here. The board allotted a small land in Sectors 4 and 5 here. Efforts have been made to develop this land into a proper cremation ground by the Notified Area Committee and some social organisations like Rotary Club, but, these have failed. Residents use the facility at the nearby Kalka town. They say that a truck has to be hired to take the body 5 km from here. The poor cannot afford to hire a truck. The facility is still under construction in the town. Residents say that the choice of land is not suitable because the plot is small as it is situated on hill side. Therefore, the future expansion is not possible. There is no road to the place as well. In the absence of a boundary wall around the ground, cattle and dogs have a free access to the place. Residents say that there is also no arrangement to store the wood. In the rains, it becomes difficult to keep the wood dry. There is only one tap here and the water supply is also not sufficient. Mostly, the tap is used by residents of a slum near this place. Residents say that the
condition of sheds at the place is also very bad. The tin
rooves of the sheds have become old and the floors of
these are broken. The place is full of bushes. |
Pensioners demand DA instalments CHANDIGARH, May 28 — A meeting of the Himachal Pensioners Welfare Association (Panchkula/ Chandigarh-Parwanoo zone) was held at Panchkula today, where various demands of the members were discussed. The meeting was presided over by Mr D.R. Sood, a former member (Technical) of the HPSEB. It was resolved in the meeting that the HP Government would be urged to immediately release the DA instalments as already due from January 1 last, on the Central Government pattern. It was decided that the HP Government would be requested to adopt the notification, dated May 5 last, issued by the Punjab Government. The notification removed the anomaly for the pensioners who retired between January 1, 1996, and September 1, 1996, by allowing them pension at 50 per cent of the minimum new pay scale effective from January 1, 1996. This would ensure that senior pensioners who were getting less pension than their juniors, did not suffer any further loss. The association also demanded that the HP Government should follow the orders of the Central Government issued in December 1998. According to the order, pensions of persons, irrespective of their date of retirement, should not be less than 50 per cent of the minimum pay in the revised scale introduced with effect from 1996. The HP Government would also be urged to grant the LTC to its pensioners on the pattern of the Punjab Government.The HP Government was also urged to increase the basic pension by 5 per cent when pernsioners attained the age of 70 and 10 per cent when they beame 80-years-old, as had been done by Punjab and some other states. The members also
honoured Mr Sood on his being selected to be a part of
the Committee of Hydro Power Experts by the Central
Electricity Regulatory Commission. |
Himachal to produce off-season vegetables SHIMLA, May 28 (UNI) — Nearly 5.50 lakh tonnes off-season vegetables are likely to be produced in Himachal in current year. This production of off-season vegetables will be from 32,000 hectares of land alone as the the state recorded a gradual increase in the off-season vegetables crop output and land area under it during the past three years, according to an official spokesman here. The state government had launched various schemes to boost the production of off-season vegetables in the state. Under these schemes, improved seeds, fertiliser, pesticides, insecticides and fungicides etc are being provided to farmers besides 50 per cent subsidy to IRDP families for the purpose. The state Agriculture Department has been providing technical know-how to vegetable growers to grow diversified crops and superior vegetable hybrids and creating better marketing facilities through cooperatives. The spokesman said the state government was establishing green houses which would play a vital role in the production and protection of nurseries. A subsidy of 10 to 15 per cent is provided under a central government sponsored scheme for the construction of green houses occupying the maximum area up to 500 square metres. Besides this, Rs 5000 subsidy is also given to the growers for the construction of water storage tanks. The state government has identified 50 project areas in the state where irrigation facilities are available. In each project area 10 hectares of land would be utilised for production of seeds which would be distributed to farmers and prospective vegetable growers. The government has allocated Rs 20 lakh for development of these project areas. The climatic conditions
in Himachal particularly in parts of outer and inner
Himalayas, are congenial for the growing of off-season
vegetables like tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, beans,
French beans, tulip, potato etc. Some of the valleys in
the lower hills at height ranging from 914 metres to 1500
metres are known as off-season vegetable bowls. |
Resentment over foundation stone BILASPUR, May 28 — Many opposition leaders belonging to the Congress and the CPI here have expressed resentment against the declaration of the government that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would lay the foundation stone of 800 megawatt, Rs 6000 crore Kol dam power project at Kangu in Sundernagar tehsil of the Mandi district some 9 km away from the site of the dam. Addressing reporters here yesterday Zila Parishad Chairman Dilaram Dhiman, Zila Parishad members Bhagat Singh Verma and the Ramprakash Dhiman, Jhandutta panchayat samiti chairman Shankar Dass Sharma, Bilaspur Sadar panchayat samiti Chairman Tilak Raj Sharma and gram panchayat Dharote president Jeet Singh said that the dam was to be constructed in Bilaspur district. At Chamyon village and inauguration should be either at Chamyon or Kayan villages in Harnoda area and not at Kangu which was away from the actual site. Giving details the leaders said that this dam would submerge 1700 hectares of land affecting 350 families of which 220 families belonged to Bilaspur district. They said of total 750 hectares of private land going under water 350 hectares belonged to Bilaspur district 200 hectares to Shimla district. They said that number of
affected families must have been doubled by now than
above figures of several years ago when this survey was
conducted when the project was actually mooted in primary
stages. |
PWD bulldozes sown land HAMIRPUR, May 28 — The National Highways project of linking Hoshiarpur with Mandi via Hamirpur has run into trouble due to alleged haphazard bulldozing of land near Thana Daroghan area of the Kot gram panchayat of Hamirpur district. A visit to the site yesterday evening revealed that bulldozers were clearing the land and bulldozing huge mounds of hard rock. Scores of big trees have also been bulldozed in this operation. Most of the felled trees belong to the local people. About 50 persons including women were protesting against the bulldozing of their land but none listened to their plight. Subedar Baldev Singh said that he had sown his land only yesterday. When the family got up in the morning, everything was changed for them. Their fields had turned plain. He said that when protested the persons at work told that they were doing it as per directions from the Department of Public works. They refused to listen to us and continued the road cutting and bulldozing work. Senior officers of the Public Works Department were not available for comments. When contacted, Mrs.
Anuradha Thakur, Deputy Commissioner said that she was
not aware of the matter. However, the matter would be
looked into as it seemed to be serious one. |
Prowling leopard causes panic BILASPUR, May 28 — A full leopard grown locally called "bagh" has been on the prowl in Jabbali and Duhakali village areas 5 to 10 km from here and it killed or carried away a number of cattle of villagers causing resentment and panic in this area. Led by Mahila Mandal president Ms Bimla Devi Chaudhary, village elders said here yesterday that the leopard killed two cows one Jersey and one Holstein of farmer Premial of Duhakali village on night of May 9. Earlier it struck cow shed of farmer Ramlal in Jabbali village killing and carrying away a goat while every third or fourth day it has been striking and killing whatever cattle it can find since two months. They said that due to its fear particularly at night they have either to keep cattle in-side cow sheds even during this summer season or they have to sleep with these cattle and keep awake by turns to save cattle. These village elders urged the government to intervene and order the Forest Department either to catch this predator or to kill it. They also demanded
doubling of payment of compensation for the cattle killed
by leopard. |
DAV school wins flower show
trophy SHIMLA, May 28 — A Lychnis Coronaria Exhibit of Dr N.L. Sharma, a doctor at Indira Gandhi Medical College, was adjudged the best exhibit at the two-day flower show which concluded here today. The show was organised by the Shimla Amateur Garden and Environment Society (SAGES). The two other first prizes in the individual competition for flowering pot plants were bagged by Mr Med Ram (Bishop Cotton School) for best calla lilly and Mr D.M. Sahni (Rockwood) for best hydrangia. The three second prizes went to Mr Gobind Ram (Horticulture Department) for his godetia, Mr Tejinder (Knollswood) for sydrangia and Sister Antoinette (Chalsea) for fushia. The first and third prizes in the foliage plants were claimed by Mr Med Ram (B.C.S.) for petunia and ivy geranium respectively, while Mr Prem Singh (Horticulture, Department) got the second prize for asparagus. In the cacti and succulents category Gian Chand (B.C.S.) for Cactus, Mr D.M. Sahni (Rockwood) for succulent, and Mr Bhaiya Ram (Chelsea) for cactus, got the first, second and third prize, respectively. In the hanging baskets category Sister Margrita (Chelsea) for donkey tail sedem, Mr Roop Ram (Chelsea) for succulents and Sister Antoinette (Chelsea) for tuberous begonia, bagged the first three positions. The flower arrangement competition for schools was won by DAV Public School (New Shimla). The second place was bagged by Laureatre Public School and the third by Potmore Senior Secondary School. The trophy for best
booth display by institution went to Indian Institute of
Advanced Study. It was followed by Regional Fruit
Research Station and Department of Horticulture. |
Judge transferred to Shimla SHIMLA, May 28 — The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has ordered the transfer of Mr V.K. Gupta, Additional District and Sessions Judge Dharamsala, to Shimla on the same post. Earlier Mr Dharam Chand Chaudhary, District and Sessions Judge (Inspection), at present posted in the high court, had additional charge as Additional District and Sessions Judge, Shimla. Mr Avtar Singh Dogra has
been posted as Additional District and Sessions Judge,
Dharamsala. |
Contract jobs for private
institution’s staff SHIMLA, May 28 — A spokesman of the Himachal Education Department said here yesterday that teaching and non-teaching employees who were relieved following the upgradation of private institutions and had become unemployed would now be posted in government schools on special contract and daily wage basis. He said such staff were interviewed from May 22 to May 26 for which 111 non-teaching 45C and V teachers and 103 lecturers appeared. The spokesman added that
posting orders on special contract and daily wage basis
would be issued soon for far-flung areas of the state. |
Contractors’ body threatens to stop
work SHIMLA, May 28 — The H.P. Contractors Association has threatened to stop execution of the works of the state government if its payments were delayed. In a statement here yesterday, Mr J.S. Bhogal, general secretary of the association, said that an emergency meeting of the association was held here on Friday to discuss the issue. The association urged
the government to ask all departments to release payments
of the executed works without delay. They payments should
be released within one month of completion of any work. |
Six killed as Jeep falls
into khud SHIMLA, May 28 — As many as six persons were killed and four injured, two of them seriously, when their Tata Sumo jeep fell into khud near Danoghat in Solan district today. The vehicle which was on
its way to Shimla from Mandi, was carrying tourists.
Three women were among those killed. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | In Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
