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| Sunday, September 3, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Decision on Karmapa soon Virbhadra meets Sonia Bragta refutes Ram
Lal’s statement Amendments to Act
‘retrograde’ step Revenue Act made ‘simpler’ |
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Restore promotion
rules: association Foreigner held Merger of Housing
Board opposed DIGs swap places HP
university students boycott classes Tibetans celebrate
Democracy Day Jaswant gives 10 lakh
for HP flood relief
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Decision on Karmapa soon DHARAMSALA, Sept 2 — The Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, has assured representatives of the Karma Kagyu sect that a decision on the status of the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorjee, would be taken after consulting the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. A delegation of representatives of the Karma Kagyu sect, which is headed by the Karmapa, called on the Home Minister to submit a resolution passed at the third international Karma Kagyu Dharma Conference held here on August 19. The conference, which was held at the abode of the Karmapa, the Gyuto monastery in Sidhbari, had specially been convened to urge the Government of India to take an early decision on the status of the Karmapa and permit him to go to the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, the seat of the Kagyu sect. A close aide of the Karmapa revealed the 15-member delegation met the Home Minister in New Delhi on August 31. “He assured us that the decision on the status of the Karmapa would be taken after consulting the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Dalai Lama,” he said. The delegation comprised representatives of the Kagyu sect from the Rumtek monastery, close aides of the regent of the sect, Gyaltsab Rinpoche, and members of the Buddhist Association. A copy of the resolution passed at the three-day conference was handed over to the Home Minister for an early decision on the status of the Karmapa in India. The 15-year-old head of the Karma Kagyu sect had made a sudden appearance in India on January 5 early this year after fleeing from Tibet. In the resolution emphasis has been laid on the early return and installation of the Karmapa at the Rumtek monastery, which is the main seat in exile for the head of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Founded by the 16th Karmapa, Rahgjung Rigpe Dorje, the Rumtek monastery was established for the purpose of disseminating the Buddha dharma and the Kagyu tradition of Buddhism by the successive line of Gyalwa Karmapas. “It is only after assuming his rightful seat at Rumtek that the Karmapa will be able to carry out his dharma activities smoothly,” contested the aides of the Karmapa. Mention has been made of the Dalai Lama’s views of enabling the Karmapa to go to his rightful seat at the Rumtek monastery in the resolution. “His early installation at the Rumtek monastery will ensure the Karmapa’s good health as well as
provide an environment that is conducive to his sound and complete education,” said the resolution. While stating that “he is a stranger in his own home” a request has been made to the Indian authorities to allow the Karmapa to undertake extensive dharma tours for the purpose of giving teachings and blessings in and outside India. “To fulfil the wishes and aspirations of the Buddhists in general and those of the Karma Kagyu sect in particular in every continent there should be no obstacle in his free travel all over the world,” said the resolution. Ever since his arrival here in India almost eight months back the Government of India has kept the issue of the status of the Karmapa pending and even imposed restrictions on the free movement of the religious leader anywhere outside Dharamsala. At the conference it was demanded that till permission could be granted for him to go to Rumtek he should be allowed to move around freely in and outside India. |
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Virbhadra meets Sonia SHIMLA, Sept 2 — The crisis in the Congress over the appointment of district and assistant returning officers for holding organisational elections took a new turn today with the CLP Leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, meeting the AICC chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, to protest against “lopsided” appointments. Mr Virbhadra Singh, who is camping at Delhi is learnt to have met Mrs Sonia Gandhi and complained that the exercise of appointing certain district and assistant returning officers was aimed at rigging the poll. He is learnt to have met Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha, chairman of the central election authority of the AICC, to lodge his protest against these appointments and appraise him of his point of view. The appointment of assistant returning officers today for the 68 blocks of the state has added fuel to the fire with the Virbhadra Singh camp declaring that an attempt was being made by certain persons to rig the organisational elections. They allege that these persons are trying to grab organisational posts through the backdoor. A supporter of Mr Virbhadra Singh said the pattern of appointment of
DROs and AROs indicated that the organisational elections were that of the Youth Congress and not the PCC. The Virbhadra camp was upset particularly over the appointment of AROs at Arki. Doon and Solan in Solan district, Chintpurni, Kutlehar and Santokhgarh in Una district, Bamsan, Nadaun and Nadaunta in Hamirpur district, Gherwin, Shumarwin and Bilaspur in Bilaspur district, Baijnath, Kangra, Paragpur and Jawalamukhi in Kangra district and Nachan and Karsog in Mandi district. A leader belonging to the other group in the party appreciated the appointments. She said by having appointed Youth Congress activists for conducting the elections, an effort had been made to build a second line of leadership in the party. Meanwhile, the district returning officers for the two districts of Una and Hamirpur have been replaced. Ms Upender Kaul will now be the DRO for Una district instead of Mr K.C. Sharma, who has now been shifted to Hamirpur district. Mr Aseem Kumar, who was yesterday appointed DRO for Hamirpur, has been removed. Mr Aseem Kumar, who is an office-bearer of the Youth Congress, was earlier appointed DRO of Hamirpur where Mr Sukhwinder Singh, President of the Youth Congress is expected to seek election to the PCC against Congress stalwart Narain Chand Parashar. The Virbhadra Singh supporters had raised objections to the appointment of Mr Aseem Kumar as the
DRO. |
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Bragta refutes Ram
Lal’s statement SHIMLA, Sept 2 — Mr Narinder Bragta, Minister of State for Horticulture, has expressed surprise over the statement of Thakur Ram Lal, a former Chief Minister, alleging that the “slump” in the apple market has arisen due to the flooding of apple procured under market-intervention scheme (MIS). In a statement here yesterday, Mr Bragta said presently over 1.70 lakh metric tonnes of apple had been sent to traditional apple markets like Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Bangalore, etc by growers from the state. He added that the government agency had procured 20,000 metric tonnes of processable apple so far for which two processing plants at Parwanoo and Jarole were being run round-the-clock so that maximum apple could be processed. Over 36,000 bags of apple procured under MIS had been processed by the HPMC so far. Some stock had been auctioned at Parwanoo which had been taken to the non-traditional markets like Bulandshahr, Muzzaffarpur, Meerut, Bareilly in UP, Murina and Bhind in Madhya Pradesh and Sasaram and Patna in Bihar where the growers hardly send their quality produce. Mr Bragta said Thakur Ram Lal, who was himself a leading apple grower, should know that 90 per cent apple was consumed in traditional markets where the apple purchased under MIS hardly goes and affect the prices. He said this year there was a bumper crop which was evident from the fact that 95 lakh boxes had been sent to the markets so far as compared to 65 lakh boxes sent in 1998 in the same period. These could be some of the reasons for the slashing of apple prices in the market but even than the growers were getting better prices as compared to 1998. He said the former Chief Minister instead of making a false allegation should have come out with a better suggestion to ensure better prices to the growers so that the government could have taken steps accordingly. Refuting the allegation of malpractices levelled by Thakur Ram Lal, Mr Bragta said not a single instance had come to the notice of the government so far. He said in 1998 no complaint of malpractice had been reported. It was the first time that the growers got timely payments in 1998. He said on the other hand during the Congress regime from 1983 to 1989 a number of cases of malpractices were registered and a number of these cases were still under trial. He said the present government was fully committed to safeguard the interests of growers. Two winnery plants were being set up in Kulu and Shimla districts at a cost of Rs 25 crore, he added. |
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Amendments to Act
‘retrograde’ step SHIMLA, Sept 2 — The state unit of the CPM has termed the amendments to the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act as a “retrograde” step as these seem to concentrate judicial powers in revenue officials which is against the spirit and intent of the directive principles. In a statement here yesterday, the party rejected the argument of the government that the amended Act would speed up the disposal of revenue cases and pointed out that the official concerned were already overburdened with multifarious administrative responsibilities and had no time for revenue work. It demanded the withdrawal of the amendments failing which it would launch an agitation. The action programme would be finalised at its meeting on September 10, it said. Meanwhile, Justice R.K. Mahajan has said that the amendments have been made in a hasty manner. Taking away the jurisdiction of civil courts in matters pertaining to title disputes and correction of entries in revenue records will not be in the interest of poor and illiterate landholders, he said. The amendments, he observed, seemed to be framed on the advice of a revenue expert committee and he was not sure whether the Bar had been associated with the process. The amended Act had no answer as to how complicated issues pertaining to succession arising out of mutation and other related matters would be decided by revenue officials who lacked the necessary background and experience. The amendements were so drastic that these would virtually amount to the abolition of the civil courts. He suggested that the amendments should be referred to the Law Commission for a thorough examination and its implementation be stayed by an ordinance. |
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Revenue Act made ‘simpler’ SHIMLA, Sept 2 — A spokesman of the HP Government said here yesterday that the recent amendments carried out in the state Land Revenue Act were aimed at providing transparency and simple procedure for settling revenue matters as the old revenue provisions were not in consonance with the aspirations of the people and revenue set up of the state. He said the procedure for revision had been simplified by making necessary amendments in the corresponding section and the collector and commissioner had been made competent to decide the cases of revision and there would be no need to refer the cases to the financial commissioner, therefore ensuring fast and cost-effective justice to the people. The spokesman said the procedure for the making of record-of-rights had been simplified and transparency had been introduced in the making for record-of-rights by carrying out amendments in the corresponding section of the Act. To prevent mistakes and ensure accurate and reliable records the provisions had been made in Section 33 of the Act to provide preliminary and final publication of record-of rights. It had been made mandatory to supply copies of settlement “jamabandis” and field map to right holders who had been conferred the right under law to represent against the entries in the records if made wrongly thus ensuring transparency. He said the jurisdiction of revenue officers and the civil court was not clearly demarcated in the old Land Revenue Act and on the other hand it gave specific powers to civil courts and also laid down the procedure for appeals to civil courts, which resulted in protracted costly litigation for the poor. Even the proceedings of the highest revenue officer like the financial commissioner were sometime challenged by a suit in a civil court of the sub-judge prolonging litigations for years together. The spokesman added that to overcome this problem and to save the peasants from unnecessary and costly litigation the necessary amendments had been carried out. He said the provisions regarding the prevention of encroachments on the government land had been made more stringent and deterrent so as to curb the growing tendency to encroach upon government land by the people by amending Section 163 of the Act. Besides, the procedure for private partitions had also been simplified, he added. The spokesman said the government had finalised the rules under the HP Kisan Pass Book Act-1996, under which the new Kisan pass book had been framed and the process to provide it to every farmer was in progress. The pass book was a legal document and would provide facilities like details of holdings, loans and subsidy and details of land transfers, rights, besides other facilities, he added. The spokesman claimed that the amendments in the revenue Act were carried out after due consultations with the Bar associations, legal experts and different sections of society. |
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Restore promotion
rules: association MANDI, Sept 2 — The Himachal Pradesh Agriculture and Horticulture Officers Association today demanded the recruitment and promotion rules which had been suspended in 1993 for no valid reason should be immediately restored and all vacant posts should be filled without further delay. Talking to mediapersons, the state president of the association, Mr R.S. Verma, lamented the “evasive attitude” of the government towards the demands of the officials who were stagnating at the same post for over 30 years. He said the association had unanimously resolved that the post of the Director, Horticulture, in Himachal should be filled through the regular channel of promotions and no one should be thrusted on the department from outside. Dr Verma pleaded that 31 posts of district horticulture officer, subject matter specialists and horticulture development officer should be filled immediately as a first step to end the prevailing stagnation in the department. Decrying the move to place the horticulture staff under the supervision of the BDOs, the association maintained their members could extend coordination to the BDOs but would not like being subordinate to BDOs, being superior in their academic qualifications. The association further demanded the post of subject matter specialist should be upgraded from the existing strength and specialists should be posted at block level to give a boost to horticulture which had played a big role in improving the economic standard of the farmers. |
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Foreigner held KULU, Sept 2 — A foreigner whose nationality is yet to be confirmed was arrested yesterday by the local police when he was caught by the Manager of the State Bank of Patiala here for presenting stolen travellers cheques for encashment. The bank manager confirmed from the American Express Company about the details of the cheques wherefrom it was confirmed that those were stolen as the actual owner of the cheques had
reported the theft of those cheques. The arrested man has a stolen Dutch passport of Joseph Hobert Buchard bearing number 9133020068. A case under Section 420 and 379 of the IPC and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act has been registered. The man has been remanded in police custody till September 9. |
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Merger of Housing
Board opposed SHIMLA, Sept 2 — The Himachal Pradesh Nagar Vikas Pradhikaran Mazdoor Sangh has opposed the decision of the state government to merge the Himachal Pradesh Housing Board with the State Urban Development Authority. It condemned the Housing Board Employees Union’s decision to support the merger. It said the reasons advanced in support of the merger by the union were lopsided. The fact was that the functions of the undertakings were different from each other. |
DIGs swap places SHIMLA, Sept 2 — Mr K.S. Rana, DIG (Wireless), was today posted as DIG (Enforcement) here. Mr Jagjit Kumar Gupta, DIG (Enforcement), goes in place of Mr Rana. Mr Parmod Banyal, DSP, Kulu, has been transferred as DSP, Badsar. The transfer of Mr Kishen Chand, DSP, Kulu, to Nahan has been cancelled. |
HP
university students boycott classes SHIMLA, Sept 2 (PTI) — Students of Himachal Pradesh University today boycotted classes in response to an “education bandh” call by the Students Federation of India
(SFI) even as the Vice-Chancellor invited agitating student leaders for talks. Fortytwo Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists arrested yesterday on the charge of causing damage to government property were released on personal bonds. Activists of the
ABVP, SFI and the National Students Union of India (NSUI) are demanding restoration of duly-elected students central associations in the university and affiliated colleges and withdrawal of fee hike. |
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Tibetans celebrate
Democracy Day DHARAMSALA, Sept 2 — On the occasion of Tibetan Democracy Day, the Tibetan government in-exile called upon its people to exercise their voting right and ensure the election of candidates, who were dedicated and provide better leadership to the freedom struggle. A function was held at the main temple outside the place of the Dalai Lama today, where the chairman of the Tibetan Cabinet, Mr Sonam Topgyal, ministers and officials, monks, nuns, schoolchildren were present. Addressing the gathering, Mr Topgyal said democracy was the most treasured form of government for people all over the world, for which the Tibetans were still striving. He termed the White Paper issued by China recently as a
pre-posterous. |
| Jaswant gives 10 lakh
for HP flood relief SHIMLA, Sept 2 — Mr Jaswant Singh, Minister of External Affairs, has contributed Rs 10 lakh from the MP local area development scheme for relief in the areas affected by floods in Himachal Pradesh last month. Responding to the request of the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal to all MPs, including Union Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, has informed the Chief Minister that he had requested the Minister of Programme Implementation to allocate Rs 10 lakh for this purpose from the funds at his discretion. Mr Anil
Arora, branch manager of LG Electronics, presented a cheque for Rs 31,000 to Mr Dhumal here today. |
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