 |
| Wednesday,
September 13, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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BJP has failed to project HP case: Virbhadra SC sets aside HP High Court verdict Virbhadra to contest PCC poll Five Financial
Commissioners transferred Lance Naik cremated
with honours |
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CM favours transparent
revenue administration Barog cries for
bank facilities Wazir Bowli Bailey
bridge commissioned No Chinese spy in
Kulu valley: DIG UK cops walk
for charity Hindi sanman
for R.C. Sharma Leopard rescued
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BJP has failed to project HP case: Virbhadra SHIMLA, Sept 12 — The leader of the Congress Legislature Party, Mr Virbhadra Singh, has accused the BJP-HVC combine government of failing to properly project the case of Himachal Pradesh before the 11th Finance Commission due to which the state will be in a bad financial position for the next five years. Mr Virbhadra Singh, who was talking to newspersons here today, lambasted the state government headed by Mr P.K. Dhumal for the “deteriorating” law and order situation and demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged incident of misbehaviour of a Vice-Chairman of a corporation with a woman in a public place here. He said the police was trying to “hush up” the case under political pressure. The CBI should also inquire into the other incidents of suicides and “irregularities” committed by various ministers, he demanded. He alleged that the BJP-HVC combine government had agreements with the Centre, the World Bank, the Finance Commission and the Planning Commission to reduce the staff strength by retrenching daily wage workers and others, impose user charges on hospitals and other social services being provided by the government, increase tariffs on transport and irrigation and drinking water. The government should come out with details of such commitments, he said. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the BJP had criticised the then Congress governments for the awards of the ninth and 10th Finance Commissions. But now the 11th Finance Commission, on which Mr Dhumal had pinned great hopes, had taken the wind out of his sails. This was for the first time that any Finance Commission has calculated the loans raised by the state government as its income. The income from the state lottery, which was banned till two years ago, had also been included as revenue, he alleged. He said Mr Dhumal had already indicated that there would be large-scale retrenchment of employees to bring down the expenditure on salaries. A large number of daily wage workers had been retrenched in the PWD, Forest, Tourism and other departments instead of confirming the services of all those employees who had completed five years as daily wage workers as promised in the BJP election manifesto, he alleged Mr Virbhadra Singh accused the Chief Minister of having misled the people on the issue of Rs 100 crore financial assistance from the Centre for the flood relief works in the state. He said the amount was not any financial aid, but Rs 50 crore out of it was an advance which the state government shall have to return to the Centre during the current financial year along with an interest of 10.5 per cent. The remaining amount of Rs 50 crore was in the way of advance plan assistance which will be deducted from the plan funds. The Centre has only provided Rs 39 crores for flood relief works which the state government would have received in the normal course out of the central kitty of natural calamity fund. Mr Virbhadra Singh accused the Dhumal government of discarding welfare schemes and taking anti-people measures by imposing hospital charges on patients by converting the hospitals into societies. The Congress will withdraw all such levies when it returns to power in the state. He alleged that the corrupt and criminals were being patronised by certain ruling BJP functionaries. The police was afraid of taking action against those enjoying patronage of the Chief Minister, he alleged. The law and order had collapsed in the state and the police had failed to nab the culprits involved in the murder of a HVC leader at Dharampur in Mandi. Mr Virbhadra Singh demanded the apple growers of Kinnaur should be paid a support price of at least Rs 24 per kg for thier produce which has got struck up due to damaged road and bridges. He justified the strike of lawyers against the amendments to the Revenue Law which, he said, would lead to political interference in revenue matters. He said the Congress would not be cowed down by the threats of certain BJP leaders of initiating defamation suits against “irregularities” in the chargesheet to be presented to the Governor recently. The party was now preparing the second volume of the “chargesheet”, he said. |
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CM favours transparent
revenue administration THEOG, Sept 12 — The Himachal Government will not hesitate in carrying out more amendments in the State Land Revenue Act to bring efficiency and transparency in revenue administration and ensure a better deal to farmers who have been facing a lot of difficulties because of obsolete laws. This was stated by Mr P.K. Dhumal, the Chief Minister, while formally launching the Kisan Pass Book scheme here today. He said the 130-year-old law was amended to do away with the provisions that had become redundant, ensure speedy disposal of disputes and plug the lacunae which provided undue leverage to revenue officials and provided scope for malpractices and corruption. However, there was always room for improvement and government would take all possible steps in this direction. He said a section of advocates had reservations regarding certain amendments but those would be looked into with an open mind. The government would hold consultations with both the advocates and the farmers to ascertain if more amendments were required in the larger interest of the farmers. Mr Dhumal said the government planned to give pass books to all the 12,97,567 land owners of the state by March next. He said it was no ordinary pass book but a legal document in which not only the details of the land but also information like caste and lienage and market value of land would be recorded on the basis of the pass-book a farmer could get certificate from the subdivisional magistrate in support of his caste, financial status and legal heir. The bank would be obliged to provide loans on the basis of the pass-book. The farmers would not have to run from one office to the other to procure documents. A complete record of trees sanctioned to the right holder under timber distribution rules would also be maintained in the pass-book. Referring to steps being taken by the government to ensure remunerative returns to fruit growers, Mr Dhumal said two apple wineries — one in Shimla district and another in Kulu district — were being set up. New high-yielding varieties of apples were being imported to replace the traditional ones to increase productivity. The present government, he said was ensuring time-bound completion of projects. He came down heavily on the previous Congress government for having started so many works without making any budgetary provision bringing the state on the verge of bankruptcy by raising indiscriminate loans. The Chief Minister said the government had decided to link all villages in the state by road by year 2002 and urged the people to give their land wherever needed for the purpose. Dr Rajan Sushant, the Revenue Minister, said amendments in the Land Revenue Act were carried out on the basis of the recommendations a high-powered committee comprising revenue experts, advocates, farmers and other concerned. Every section of the Act was examined threadbare by it before making recommendations. Mr Narinder Bragta, the Horticulture Minister, Mr R.D. Kashyap, the Urban Development Minister, Mrs Vidya Stokes, the local legislator and Mr Rakesh Verma, former BJP legislator also spoke. Earlier, Mr Dhumal was accorded a rousing welcome by the local people who had turned out in strength to listen to him. |
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SC sets aside HP High Court verdict NEW DELHI, Sept 12 — The Supreme Court has set aside a judgement of the Himachal Pradesh High Court whereby the latter ordered retrial of an accused Gita Ram, convicted and sentenced for rape under Section 376 of the IPC, on a technical ground that the trial judge had no jurisdiction to try the said offence. A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice K.T. Thomas and Mr Justice R.P. Sethi taking exception to the high court setting aside the conviction and seven years’ imprisonment of the accused, said, “If on any technical ground any party to the criminal preceedings is aggrieved he must raise the objection at the earliest stage. If he did not raise it at the earliest stage he cannot be heard on that aspect after the whole trial is over.” “We are distressed to note that the learned single Judge was not told by the government counsel of the fallout of such a view, if taken by the single Judge, that it means all witnesses once examined in full should be called back again and the whole chief-examination, cross-examination, re-examination and questioning of the accused under Section 313 of the code, hearing arguments., then examination of defence witnesses further, again final arguments to be heard and preparation of judgement once again”, the Judges observed. Remitting the case to the high court for disposing it of on merits, the Judges ruled, “The premise adopted by the high court is patently erroneous. The session court which tried the case for the offence under Section 376 of the IPC continued to have jurisdiction to try the same, and the order of committal was legally valid. The appeal filed before the high court could only be disposed of on merit.” Allowing the appeal of the State of Himachal Pradesh, the Judges noted the respondent Gita Ram was chargesheeted for offences under Section 376 of the IPC and Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. A magistrate committed the case to the sessions court which was specified as a special court to try the offences under the Act. A charge was framed by the said sessions court against the respondent only for the offence under Section 376 of the IPC. After trial, the said sessions judge convicted the respondent and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for seven years. The respondent challenged the conviction and sentence in appeal before the high court. The high court held the trial judge had no jurisdiction as he was only the special court specified under the Act. The case was committed to that court which had no jurisdiction to try an offence under Section 376 of the IPC, according to the high court, which ordered returning of the case record to the magistrate for being presented to the competent court. |
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Virbhadra to contest PCC poll SHIMLA, Sept 12 — CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, is likely to contest the election for the post of the Pradesh Congress Committee chief which is to be held here next month. Sources close to Mr Virbhadra Singh told the TNS here today that he had made up his mind to contest the election for heading the Congress party in the state. Supporters of Mr Virbhadra Singh feel that his becoming a candidate for the post will end groupism over the issue as Congressmen will rally around him. Otherwise there may be many aspirants for the post even from within his camp. There is no information yet about who his rival group will field for the post. However, the name of Mr Anand Sharma is among those in circulation. In the meantime, leaders of both groups are working to get their candidates elected as PCC delegates as they will finally choose the PCC chief. Groupism within the senior leadership of the party here has come out in the open on the issue. While the Virbhadra Singh group has not endorsed the appointment of certain Youth Congress activists as polling officers, the other faction has welcomed the step and criticised Virbhadra Singh supporters for taking exception to induction of ‘young blood’. Many supporters of Mr Virbhadra Singh have described the move as an effort to rig the organisational elections. They say they are not opposed to induction of youth, but the elections should be free and fair. Mr Virbhadra Singh today said that it was for the pradesh election authority to ensure free and fair elections as desired by AICC chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. This is not the first time that the fear of rigging of organisational elections has been expressed. An attempt was made to rig the organisational elections in 1992, when about 9 pro-Virbhadra Singh delegates were disqualified from voting. However, Mr Virbhadra Singh sailed through when the voting right of these delegates was restored by the central party observer, Mr Sharad Pawar, at the last minute. It is being alleged that certain leaders claiming to be the mouthpiece of Mrs Sonia Gandhi are trying to take advantage of the situation to grab positions in the party. A Virbhadra Singh loyalist alleged that certain leaders, who were pretending to be saviours of the Congress and were now exploiting their closeness with Mrs Sonia Gandhi had deserted the Congress when the party was in crisis after the fall of the Indira Gandhi government in the wake of the Emergency. They returned in the Congress fold only when Mrs Gandhi again returned to power. He alleged that the move for a “mahajot” of the Congress with the BJP and Trinamool Congress might have failed in West Bengal, but certain Congress leaders in Himachal Pradesh appear to have formed a mahajot with Chief Minister, P.K.Dhumal, as they are always criticising Mr Virbhadra Singh while being silent on the ruling BJP. The rival faction has alleged that Mr Virbhadra Singh was not functioning in a democratic manner and not taking them into confidence on various issues. |
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Barog cries for
bank facilities KUMARHATTI, Sept 12 — The lack of a bank at Barog, 4 km from here, has led to resentment among residents and hotel employees. More than 1,500 residents and 200 hotel employees of this tourist resort situated on the Kalka-Shimla national highway have to trudge a long distance to avail banking facilities. Besides Barog, residents of Dhaliana, Kalol, Nagali and Dagota also have to face great inconvenience. Barog, which has emerged as a big draw among weekend revellers witnesses heavy inflow of tourists. There should be a bank here so that hoteliers and ‘dhabawalas’ can easily deposit their daily earning, points a local hotelier. “We have to make special security arrangements for hard cash to be sent for depositing in Solan, as the road which leads to Solan passes through a dense pine forest,” says Mr Ramesh Sharma, manager of Korinns hotel. “A sense of fear grips whenever we have to carry cash to Solan”, he adds. Similar conditions prevail at the other hotels. The demand to open a bank at Barog is a long pending, laments Mr Sukhram, president of Barog panchayat. In October 1998, the Barog panchayat had passed a resolution requesting the authorities of Uco Bank to open their branch here, but till date nothing had been done. According to Mr Sukhram the residents of Barog and adjoining areas have deposited lakhs of rupees at the Solan and Kumarhatti banks. In spite of this fact, all efforts to draw attention of the authorities have failed. He says the panchayat is even ready to provide accommodation for bank. Due to the lack of a bank, the shopkeepers are a harassed lot, says Mr Sanjay Kumar, president of Alkhdata Yuvak Mandal and a local shopkeeper, adding that they have to stand in the long queues at the banks in Solan. In the absence of a bank the most affected are the retired government employees who have a hard time cashing their pension
cheques. |
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Wazir Bowli Bailey
bridge commissioned SHIMLA, Sept 12 — The Public Works Department commissioned the 71-metre-long Wazir Bowli Bailey bridge over the Satluj near Rampur and opened it for heavy traffic last evening. This bailey bridge will connect the entire Nirmand area of Kulu district. In addition to this Pangi-Thopan, the 9-km patch of the Old Hindustan-Tibet road has also been restored for light vehicles. The Chief Secretary, Mr A.K. Goswami, while reviewing the progress at the crisis management committee meeting appreciated the PWD Department for repairing roads and bridges. The Chief Minister has directed the PWD authorities to expedite works on the Urni-Roghi-Tapri stretch of the Old Hindustan-Tibet Road so that it could be opened for light vehicles. More than 3.25 lakh empty cartons and wooden boxes have been dispatched for distribution to the apple growers in Kinnaur. In addition to this over 68,000 apple boxes have been taken to the market so far. It was also informed that 26 procurement centres for “A” grade and culled apples have been set up in Kinnaur district. The Chief Secretary directed horticulture officials to take appropriate steps for procurement of “A” grade and culled appled in Kinnaur district. Besides providing adequate supply of carton boxes to the growers. Food and Supply officials said out of 45,000 quintal of essential commodities to be stored for the winter in the upper area of Kinnaur, presently 31,000 quintals had already been supplied via Kunzam and stored at Tabo and Chango for further distribution. Besides this 3500 quintals of foodgrains have been stocked at Bhawanagar so far to be distributed in lower belt of Kinnaur district. |
No Chinese spy in
Kulu valley: DIG HAMIRPUR, Sept 12 — “There is no Chinese spy operating in any part of the Kulu valley. The security forces have made elaborate arrangements to stop the activities of intruders from Tibet into the Indian territory”, said Mr Somesh
Goel, DIG, Mandi range, while talking to newspersons here yesterday. He said the Indian troops were patrolling along the Indo-China border and no case of intrusion by any Chinese had been found so far. He claimed that the Indian borders were also safe from the drug peddlers coming from China via Tibet. He said the police was also taking steps to check the activities of foreigners visiting the Kulu valley. He said all foreign tourists had been asked to get themselves registered at the nearby police stations before travelling to the interiors of Kulu and Lahaul valleys. |
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Lance Naik cremated
with honours UNA, Sept 12 (PTI) — The body of Lance Naik Harmesh Singh (41) of 11 batallion of Dogra Regiment, who was posted at Srinagar, was cremated at his native village Bidher Wall with full state
honours. He is survived by his wife and two sons aged 14 and 11. The body reached here yesterday and was brought by his colleague Naib Subedar Santosh Kumar. According to him Harmesh Singh while on duty on September 9 had some health problem and died. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr K.K. Pant, SP Ritwik
Rudra, state BJP president and MLA Jai Krishan Sharma, vice-chairman of General Industries Vijay Joshi paid their tributes. |
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UK cops walk
for charity MANALI, Sept 12 — Five British police officers and a lawyer completed a 135-km walk for three charities starting from Sundernagar and ending here yesterday evening. The six-member-team was headed by Inspector Jack Malhi, who is the chairman of the Bass Group. The other members of the team are P.C. Johti Gill, Sgt Ifti Ahmed, P.C. Dykes John and P.C. Dahlia Hendrickson. All of them are members of the Bedfordshire police Black and Asian Staff support group. Associate Member Minal Raj is a solicitor. Inspector Malhi said that all the money raised by the group shall go to three charities — Bedford Hospital’s Mother and Baby Unit, the Sickle Cell Society and the Pingalwara an Indian charity which provides treatment and artificial limbs to poor lepers. The group has already handed over two cheques of £ 3900 and £ 500 to the Pingalwara donated by the congregation of the Luton Sikh Temple. Speaking to this correspondent they said that during their four-day trek from Sundernagar to Manali they found the Himachali people most hospitable. Referring to the recent killings of foreign nationals in Kulu valley Inspector Malhi said that foreign nationals should not venture on treks in the interior of Himachal alone and should go in organised groups with local guides. |
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Five Financial
Commissioners transferred SHIMLA, Sept 12 — The Himachal Pradesh Government today transferred five Financial Commissioners. Mr Arvind Kaul, Financial Commissioner (Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation), has been transferred as Financial Commissioner (Transport and Ayurveda). Mr Kanwar Shamsher Singh, Financial Commissioner (PWD), has been transferred as Financial Commissioner (Irrigation and Public Health) in place of Mrs Sarita Prasad, who has been given charge of food and supplies. Mr S.K. Sood has been posted as Financial Commissioner (PWD). Mr S.S. Negi, Financial Commissioner (Food and Supplies, Ayurveda and Transport) has been posted as Financial Commissioner (Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation). |
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Hindi sanman
for R.C. Sharma SHIMLA, Sept 12 — Mr R.C. Sharma will be awarded the Rashtriya Hindi Sevi Sahastrabadi Sanman at the Millennium World Hindi Conference in Delhi on September 20. Mr Sharma, who is a retired IAS officer, was earlier awarded the Chanderdhar Guleri and Academy awards. He started writing in 1948. |
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Leopard rescued SHIMLA, Sept 12 — The wildlife officials today rescued a leopard which was trapped by some local residents in the Jatogh area on the outskirts of the town. The leopard was stuck in the trap, which was laid by the residents yesterday to catch wild animals. They panicked when they saw the leopard caught in the trap. The DFO, Wildlife, Mr Lalit Mohan, and the Additional SP, Mr Daljit Thakur, visited to the spot. The leopard will be shifted to the Tuti-Kandi zoo for treatment of its injured foot. |
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