 |
| Friday, September 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Karmapa planning escape? More flood aid for HP unlikely MC deaf to residents’ problems PANs not issued,
tax payers suffer Speaker unhappy with
IPH, PWD functioning |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Rift in Congress on
Sanjauli police post Mist cleared of
consciousness Additional AROs at 4 places Sikdar threatens action CBI probe into Cong
charge sheet sought Students poll
on Sept 15: HP University HC notice to
Cong leader HVC seeks fair
probe into murder Harassment
to Sikh pilgrims condemned Missing trekkers’
father in Kulu Water-borne diseases on the rise
|
|
Karmapa planning escape? DHARAMSALA, Sept 7 — Frustrated at the inordinate delay by the Indian authorities in deciding his status, 15-year-old Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje is learnt to be toying with the idea of fleeing India or at least shifting to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. The agencies guarding the 17th Karmapa have tightened security at Gyuto Monastery following intelligence reports that the head of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism was planning to flee. “It is the presence of the Indian security personnel guarding him which is hindering the execution of the plans of the Karmapa to flee,” commented an intelligence officer on condition of anonymity. Indian intelligence agencies say it was at the Third Karmapa Kagyu International Conference here last month that an escape was planned. “The condition of the Karmapa here is no different than it was in China as he is no more than a bird in a cage with complete restriction on free movement,” complained one of his aides. The DIG and the SSP here are personally supervising the Karmapa’s security. The fear of bribing Indian security personnel has compelled the authorities to order the men not to eat in the Tibetan mess. The DGP, Mr A.K. Puri, during his recent visit here, reviewed the security arrangements. As per intelligence reports, the Karmapa may either leave India or at least reach his destination, Rumtek Monastery, in Sikkim. A request to go to Rumtek has been made by the Karmapa as well as the Tibetan government-in-exile to India. In fact, a delegation of the Karma Kagyu sect met Home Minister L.K. Advani last week in Delhi, asking him to take an early decision on the Karmapa and to allow him to move freely. A close watch is being kept on Tai Situ Rinpoche, a senior regent of the Kagyu sect, who is considered the mastermind behind the Karmapa’s escape from Tibet. “The Karmapa trusts Tai Situ the most who makes trips to Gyuto from his monastery near Baijnath practically every alternate day,” said one of the security personnel. Tai Situ, whose entry into Sikkim is banned, has reportedly been issued a warning by Delhi after he broke silence on the Karmapa issue during the recent conference of the Kagyu sect. A section of the Tibetan government-in-exile, also wants the Karmapa to stay away from Tai Situ who is considered close to China. The job of guarding the Karmapa has been given to the Indian and Tibetan security personnel. Men from the state CID and the Intelligence Bureau are stationed at Gyuto Monastery in Sidhbari where the Karmapa has been residing since his arrival here. |
|
More flood aid for HP unlikely NEW DELHI,
Sept 7 — Notwithstanding the central team’s
recommendation of Rs 188.75 crore assistance to Himachal
Pradesh in view of the flashfloods and the state
demanding Rs 500 crore, the Centre is unlikely to release
any more cash to the state in near future. The state was
given Rs 100 crore soon after floods in the Sutlej
ravaged large areas in three districts on August
1. Officials in the National Disaster Management Section
said further aid would be in the form of sectoral help to
the state by different central agencies. Since help was
mainly needed in the reconstruction of roads, repair of
power projects and storage of foodgrains in the affected
areas, the agencies concerned like the Border Roads
Organisation (BRO) and Power Department have been told to
come to the state’s assistance under their
schemes. For example, NDM officials said, the BRO was
already helping the state. Repair damaged roads and the
state was not being charged for helicopter sorties used
in giving food material in the affected areas. They
said that the decision to provide further help to the
state under the ongoing schemes only was taken at a
meeting of the committee of secretaries a few days after
the central team submitted its report on August
15. Another reason for the Centre’s inability to
provide any further cash relief to the state is the
disbanding of the National Fund of Calamity Relief (NFCR)
by the Eleventh Finance Commission. “Earlier, funds
were released from the NFCR soon after the central team
made its assessment and recommendation,” a senior
official of the NDM section said. “However, this
cannot be done now, "he added. The Eleventh Finance
Commission, he informed, had recommended the creation of
the National Calamity Contingency Fund, which was yet to
be set up. The fund would have a corpus of about Rs 500
crore and the states struck with natural disasters would
be given money out of the fund even as the corpus money
would be maintained at a stipulated level. Though no
money may be coming from the Centre in the near future,
the state is entitled to the Calamity Relief Fund of Rs
43.49 crore this year as decided by the Finance
Commission. Its first instalment has already been given
to the state. The Centre had released Rs 100 crore to
Himachal Pradesh soon after the flashfloods hit the
state. Though the state government has been repeatedly
demanding Rs 500 crore from the Centre, the central team
recommended only Rs 188.85 crore. |
|
MC deaf to residents’ problems DHANG NIHLI (NALAGARH): Politicians as well as the administration gives no ear to the difficulties of the residents of Nalagarh subdivision and it appears as if one is speaking to a wall. There is no proper drainage system in the town; as a result some areas always stink because stagnant and muddy water overflows. There has been a marked deterioration in the condition of roads, particularly the Pinjore-Swarghat and Nalagarh-Shimla state highways via Ramshahar and Ropar. One can see foot-deep potholes on the road branching from Brotiwala and Baddi towards the Pinjore-Swarghat highway. Loaded trucks, tempos and three-wheelers can be seen parked here for days together as the road becomes slippery due to rain. It has not been repaired for a long time even though it bears the maximum traffic, mainly to Kulu-Manali from Chandigarh and Delhi. The main bazar area and bus stand areas always stink as heaps of garbage have not been cleared. The bus stand has become a place to be shunned because of foul smell. Scores of pigs and stray animals can be seen throughout the day roaming in the market and on the rural hospital campus. Why the municipal committee is not clearing the garbage and repairing roads is inexplicable. The condition of the roads maintained by the municipal authorities is abysmally poor. A portion of the road near Shiv Mandir in Purana Bazar has not been repaired for a year. Another area where the local administration, specially the M.C. authorities, failed to provide proper parking is in the town. The situation has become chaotic in areas where banks and markets are situated. Shop owners as well as customers park their vehicles on the roadside and block traffic. As a result pedestrians have to suffer. Haphazard parking is also very common in the bazar and on the Nalagarh-Ropar road. |
|
PANs not issued,
tax payers suffer PALAMPUR, Sept 7 — More than 45000 income tax payers in the state are yet to receive Permanent Account Numbers (PAN). These tax payers had applied for the PAN two years ago but till date no PAN has been sent to them by authorities. Out of 1.5 lakh applicants, the Computer Cell of the Income Tax Department at Patiala, which had been entrusted with sending the PAN to only one lakh tax payers. The inquiries revealed that all the applications received by them had been dispatched to computer cell from time to time and no such applications were pending with them. It is also learnt that the PAN cards issued by the department carry wrong dates of birth and father’s name of the applicants. Though such defects were duly conveyed to the computer cell yet no fresh card has been issued to them. In the absence of the PAN the various offices of the department in the state had refused to accept the income tax returns of the tax payers putting them to great inconvenience and harassment. A senior officer of the department said as per notification of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, New Delhi, no income tax return without PAN could be entertained. He added because of fast computerisation in the department, an income tax return without PAN could not be processed, the assessment of such returns would remain incomplete. On August 31, the last date for filing of income tax returns for business, assessees, tax payers were seen indulging in heated exchanges with the officials as their return forms were not accepted. President of the Income Tax Bar Association, Palampur, said before issuing such notification the department should first set its house in order. He said the Pathankot and the Palampur Bar Taxation Associations had already passed a resolution to this effect urging probe into this scam. He contradicted the statement of Chief Commissioner of Income Tax that there were no applications of PAN pending with the department. Besides this, various bodies of the Beopar Mandal and other business organisations and chamber of commerce in the state have urged the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha to intervene. |
|
Speaker unhappy with
IPH, PWD functioning MANDI, Sept 7 — The District Grievances Committee meeting held here under the chairmanship of Thakur Gulab Singh, Speaker Himachal Vidhan Sabha, expressed “displeasure” over the functioning of IPH, PWD and Mining Departments and cautioned them against casual attitude towards the problems and difficulties of the people. The private members expressed anguish over the deteriorating condition of roads and the negligence of the department in repairing the potholes which at times led to accidents. The department of the IPH also came in for severe criticism from the members for their alleged negligence in maintaining the supply of clean potable water in some parts of the district. Mr Thakur directed the officials to take measures against the outbreak of gastroenteritis. The Grievances Committee took a serious note of illicit mining in rivers and rivulets and the Mining Officer was asked to initiate “preventive and remedial” measures to check the menace. The most significant decision taken at the meeting was the fixation of the rates of the three-wheelers who were allegedly fleecing the people for a long time. Mr Thakur said no three-wheeler would onward charge more than Rs 10 for a distance of two km and Rs 2 for the additional one km. He directed the DC to fix rates from place to place by applying the above yardstick. |
|
Rift in Congress on
Sanjauli police post SHIMLA, Sept 7 — Two councillors belonging to the Congress party in the Shimla Municipal Corporation are at loggerhead over the construction of a police post above the rain shelter in the Sanjauli area, where crime is increasing day by day. While Mr Durga Singh Verma, a former Mayor and a sitting councillor, has demanded that construction of the police post should be started without further delay, another councillor, Mr Vijay Chauhan, has in a statement protested against the move to construct the police post there. The move to construct a police post in the area was initiated as the old building in which it was earlier situated has now been vacated as it had become unsafe. However, the locals are now divided over the location of the police post. Mr Sanjay Sharma, another municipal councillor, had also favoured that the police post should be constructed over the rain shelter until a new place is found. Mr Shivendera Batish, president of the Sanjauli Beopar Mandal, and Mr Ashwani Kumar, president of the local Sanatan Dharam Sabha, have also favoured the move. Mr Verma pointed out that crime was increasing in the Sanjauli area as the police post has been shifted to a far off place. On the other hand, Mr Chauhan has claimed that the rain shelter was surrounded by residential houses and was not suitable for a police post. |
|
Mist cleared of
consciousness SHIMLA, Sept 7 — There is no conflict between religious spiritualism and scientific rationalism, which are two different modes of experience sustained by the same consciousness, according to Prof D.P. Chattopadhyaya, a renowned philosopher and chairman of the Centre for Studies in Civilisations. Delivering the seventh Dr S. Radhakrishnan Memorial Lecture on “Consciousness and scientific knowledge” at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, here today, he said consciousness, in its cognitive mode could not be purely subjective and a ‘knower-known’ duality appeared in it. The synthetic-cum-constitutive character of self-consciousness and its identity were as important as the unity of the world discovered gradually by science. Neither the ascending generality of the concepts, laws and theories, which were the building blocks of science, nor their successful application to the micro spheres of body life and mind should be attributed unilaterally to the constitutive power of consciousness. In the self-perception of every individual, including the scientist, was his own situatedness within the world of “experience of nature”. A steady flow of information poured into him and there was no escape for the scientist from knowing the incoming nature underpinned by bottomless consciousness. The main point in context of scientific knowledge was that from conceptualisation to hypothesis-framing and theorisation the scientist was mainly engaged in bringing together different items of experience, unifying and testing them. All these activities were sustained by a kind of consciousness which lasted well beyond the fleeting and discrete items of experience. Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, the Governor, who presided over the lecture, said consciousness was not bound by the constraints of space and time and as such, it seemed beyond the scope of science, which proved theories and laws by practical experiments. There were several developments in science like the wave-particle quality and the principle of uncertainty which had made the concept of consciousness increasingly acceptable to scientists. Mr P.K. Dhumal, the Chief Minister, while inaugurating the lecture, lauded the role of the institute in promoting advanced
research. |
|
Additional AROs at 4 places SHIMLA, Sept 7 — In a bid to pacify Virbhadra Singh supporters who are annoyed over the appointment of election officers for the organisational poll, the congress high command has appointed additional Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) at four places. These appointments have been made following complaints by sitting legislators that they did not expect a free and fair election under the AROs appointed earlier. The additional AROs have been appointed in the constituencies of Arki, Kasauli, Nachan and Ghumarwin where Mr Jagmohan Malhotra, Mr Surinder Sethi, Mr Lal Singh and Mr Mehboob Khan have been appointed respectively. The AROs appointed earlier have been asked to hold the election only in the presence of the newly nominated officials, according to sources. The sitting legislators, Mr Dharampal, Mr Raghu Raj, Mr Tek Chand and Mr Kashmir Singh had complained that they had no faith in the AROs appointed earlier. Mr Virbhadra Singh, who is camping at Delhi for the past few days seeking replacement of some district returning officers and AROs, has met the AICC chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the chief returning officer, Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha, and several senior partymen to protest against the “lopsided” list. The Virbhadra Singh camp is reportedly seeking replacement of AROs at about 18 places. Senior leadership of the Congress here is vertically divided over the appointments. The group opposed to Mr Virbhadra Singh has welcomed these. The district-level election process will be completed by September 22 while the PCC chief will be chosen by November 1. The Youth Congress leadership has received a shot in the arm in these organisational elections as many of its men have been appointed poll officials. The state Youth Congress chief, Mr Sukhwinder Singh, is contesting from Nadaun against Congress stalwart Narain Chand Parashar. Mr Sukhwinder Singh is reportedly being backed by certain leaders of the anti-Virbhadra Singh camp. |
|
Sikdar threatens action SHIMLA, Sept 7 — The Minister of State for Communications, Mr Tapan Sikdar, has said the Cabinet sub-committee was trying to hammer, out a solution to the demands of the striking employees of the Telecommunications Department and warned that the Centre would take action in case the strike continued. Mr Sikdar, who was talking to newspersons here today, said some trade union leaders were unnecessarily expressing resentment over the decision to corporatise the Telecom Department. He said there was no point in continuing the strike at most of the demands of the employees had already been met. Their job security was ensured and there was no question of their losing pension or other benefits. The employees should not be afraid of conversion of the DoT into a corporation as the MTNL and VSNL employees were getting more benefits. He said 60,000 new telephone connections would be released in Himachal Pradesh this year and 3,500 villages covered by the Mars technology will be converted with advanced technology telephone exchanges which would also provide value-added services to the subscribers. The government has empowered the Chief General Managers of telecom to fill the vacant posts of technician and driver to remove the staff shortage which was adversely affecting the telephone services. Mr Sikdar said the target was to increase the tele-density to 7 per cent by 2005 against the existing density of 3 per cent. The tele-density would be further increased to 15 per cent by 2010. He said the DoT would introduce cellular phone service as a pilot project this year in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. The service would be extended to all other states next year. The minister said the telecom network in the tribal area of Kinnaur was badly affected as the optical fibre cables were washed away at many places due to floods. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, had accepted his demand for providing a helicopter for early laying of the cable to restore telephone services. He said Chief Minister also accepted his demand for providing government land for setting up telephone exchanges and post offices in the state. Mr Sikdar said the head post offices at Dharamsala, Sundernagar, Nahan and Dehra would be modernised. Rules were being relaxed for setting up post offices in the hill areas. |
|
CBI probe into Cong
charge sheet sought MANDI, Sept 7 — A former Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Thakur Kaul Singh today demanded a CBI inquiry into the charge sheet submitted to the Governor by a committee of top Congress leaders. Talking to mediapersons, he alleged that the Chief Minister was protecting the ministers against whom serious allegations of corruption had been levelled. Dismissing the charge sheet as “baseless” without holding an inquiry was ample proof of the fact that Mr Dhumal was defending the guilty, he alleged. He warned that if the government did not take any action on the charge sheet, “We will submit it to the President of India”. “We are also planning to move the High Court or the Supreme Court against the plunder of the public money by the corrupt elements”, he said. He alleged that despite acute financial crisis and huge burden of debt, the government was indulging in extravagance. On the other hand, the offices of the Divisional Commissioner, which were useful for the poor in the remote areas, were closed, causing suffering to the people. |
|
Students poll
on Sept 15: HP University SHIMLA, Sept 7 — Succumbing to the mounting pressure from the three agitating student organisations, Himachal Pradesh University today accepted their demand for elections to the Students Central Association (SCA). The election to the SCAs of various affiliated colleges will be held on September 15 and at the university campus on September 21 as per a notification issued by the university. The elections to SCA were discontinued in 1995 following the murder of Kuldeep Dhalwalia, an activist of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, at the campus here. The BJP had promised in its manifesto that it would restore the democratic rights of students by holding elections. Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, said the previous Congress government had curtailed the rights of students and his government had restored there. He appealed to the students to ensure peaceful elections. However, he said, there was no case for withdrawal of fee hike. The monthly fee in colleges was only Rs 80 in Himachal as compared to Rs 400 in the neighbouring Punjab. The ABVP, the SFI and the NSUI had been up in arms against the government and the university authorities on the issue of SCA elections. The Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.K. Gupta, discussed the issue with Mr Dhumal. The parishad held a rally at the university campus today to press the demand. Dr Gupta said a committee had been constituted to look into the demand for making English an optional subject up to the graduation level.
|
|
|
HC notice to
Cong leader SHIMLA, Sept 7 — On a petition challenging the order passed by the Sessions Judge, Hamirpur, the high court has issued notices to Mr Prem Kaushal, a Congress leader. In this case the state has moved the high court for the cancellation of bail granted to the Congress leader who was alleged to be involved in the damage of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi installed at Gandhi Chowk, Hamirpur, last month. Prem Kaushal was allowed anticipatory bail by Sessions Judge, Hamirpur, on August 14, and the interim bail order was confirmed on August 28. In another case, a single Bench of the high court consisting of Mr Justice R.L. Khurana yesterday dismissed the anticipatory bail application of Ranjit Singh and Hira Singh. Both were booked under Section 323 of the IPC read with Sections 3 and 10 of the SC, ST Atrocities Act. Petitioner argued that they had come to know that a case has been registered against them on September 1 in Rohroo police station in said offence.
|
|
|
HVC seeks fair
probe into murder SHIMLA, Sept 7 — Mr Sukh Ram, President of the Himachal Vikas Congress, has urged the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, to ensure impartial investigations into the killing of Rakesh Thakur, a youth leader of his party, who was stabbed to death in Dharampur on Tuesday. The HVC leader said it appeared to be a political murder and the motive could be to terrorise the activists of his party who had organsied a successful tour of Mr Anil Sharma, his son and member of Rajya Sabha, in the Dharampur constituency. He said he would meet Mr Dhumal as soon as he returned to the state capital and explain to him the political circumstances which could have led to the murder and hence the need to ensure that there was no interference from any quarter in the investigations. Dr Ram Lal Markanda, Animal Husbandry Minister, also condemned the murder and said there seemed to be a conspiracy to eliminate the HVC youth leader. He said the success of the rallies organised by the HVC in Dharampur had upset the detractors of the party. Only a fair inquiry into the murder could bring the culprits to book.
|
|
|
Harassment
to Sikh pilgrims condemned MANDI, Sept 7 — Mr Mohinder Pal Singh, President of the Dasham Patshahi Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee has complained to the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, that the Sikh devotees on the way to Rewalsar, Mandi and Manikaran in trucks were being held up at Swarghat barrier and were being forced to go back. These devotees, he said, were being compelled to take a long detour via Una to reach Mandi. He gave copies of the complaints made by the devotees to the mediapersons and alleged that it was the doing of the Bilaspur SP, who, he said had ignored even the advice of the senior officers to let the pilgrims pass. He lamented the ill-treatment of the Sikh pilgrims. 
|
|
Missing trekkers’
father in Kulu KULU, Sept 7 — Jacob de Bruijn has come here in search of his son Mr Maarlea Salomon de Bruijn, nicknamed Sam, a Dutch national and a student of social studies in Rotterdam University. Mr Jacob de Bruijn has come along with his friend Mr Eqbord L. Brink. Mr Jacob said Sam had written his last letter in mid-May, 1999 from Kulu. The letter revealed that he had overcome depression. Sam had started feeling comfortable with himself, the letter revealed. Mr Jacob de Bruijn said they were using three channels for searching Sam — the police, a Nepali mountaineer and Mr Paul from Kulu. He said the police, politicians and the people were rendering full cooperation. Mr Jacob said his son’s letters showed that he had a lot of sympathy towards the Tibetan cause. They were leaving for McLeodganj to meet his holiness the Dalai Lama and
request him for help.
|
|
|
Water-borne diseases on the rise PARWANOO, Sept 7 — A large number of patients suffering from water-borne diseases have been rushing to the local ESI hospital and private health clinics for the past few days. The ESI hospital receives about 30 patients of gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and high fever daily, while the same number of patients are being treated by a private practioner as in the town. According to Dr Rakesh Jaiswal, cases of routine infection like fever and influenza have also been on the rise. He added that such cases had also been reported from the surrounding areas and villages. He said the infection had increased manifold in the past two weeks. One of the doctors of the hospital said people should avoid eating unhygienic and uncovered food and stop drinking water from direct source of water. Some private practioners prescribe antibiotics for diarrhoea, which should be avoided, said another doctor. Stressing upon the need to distribute ORS packets in slum colonies from where maximum number of patients had been reported, doctors said water should be boiled before drinking it.
|
|
|
Leopard attacks
woman HAMIRPUR, Sept 7 — Kagdu Devi, 65 years old woman, was seriously injured when a leopard attacked her in the early morning hours at Sangroh village of Hamirpur district today. The woman had gone to answer the call of nature when this incident took place, according to Dr Pavnesh Kumar, DFO, Hamirpur. Dr Sharma told reporters here this evening the woman raised the alarm and people gathered there. One of them fought with the leopard and saved the woman from his jaws. Kagdu Devi has been admitted to the primary health centre at Tounidevi with serious head injuries. She was in a serious condition, the DFO added. He said he visited the spot as well as the woman in the hospital and gave a sum of Rs 1875 to her. A cage has also been sent to the village to trap the leopard, the forest officer further said.
|
|
|
Beaten up by
mistake KULU, Sept 7 — Ram Chander (Rami), a villager engaged in the ropeway works, was sleeping in his home at Ubag village in the Manikaran valley on August 29. Around 9 p.m. two inspectors and two constables entered his room and made enquiries about one Chaman Lal on pleading ignorance he was beaten up and dragged to a nearby house where two masons were staying. The policemen threatened the masons with revolver. Later they were directed to report at the police station. Next day they were made to wait at the police station for the whole day. This routine continued for three days. Later they were told that they had been beaten up by mistake. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
