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March 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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India asked to pull out of
WTO One-way traffic order
violated HP sets up power regulatory panel Landslide near Vidhan Sabha, road caves
in Give cash relief to farmers: Jan
Shakti |
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Bus stand site
identified Bank staff
protest on labour laws
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India asked to pull out of
WTO Shimla, March 3 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the country had the strength and resilience to survive outside the multinationals-friendly WTO, but the political leadership lacked the will to do so. He said globalisation of trade, privatisation and the patent regime would spell doom for the industrial and agricultural sector and hit consumers and the
workers. In the situation the only way out was to quit the WTO but for doing so the country needed some time, so that bilateral trade agreement could be reached with various countries. However, the
political leadership had gone even beyond the clauses of the WTO to please influential countries like the USA and China. For instance, the country had time up to 2003 for lifting quantitative restrictions on imports, but it agreed to do so by March, 2001, to please the USA.
Similarly, China was not as yet a member of the WTO but it was accorded the most-favoured nation (MFN) status. Consequently, the domestic market had been flooded with cheap Chinese consumer goods, severely affecting indigenous products. In the agriculture sector too the poor Indian farmers had been exposed to competition from countries which were giving up to 80 per cent subsidies to the sector. He said with the lifting of quantitative restriction on 715 more items, the floodgates for imported goods would be opened. He said the Manch would stage a dharna in front of Parliament on March 22 to protest against the lifting of quantitative restirctions on imports and allowing foreign financial institutions to have 49 per cent holdings in companies and dereserving 14 products under small scale industries as announced in the Budget. The only redeeming feature of the Budget was raising of import duty on agricultural produce and waiving of excise duty on food products. |
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One-way traffic order
violated Hamirpur, March 3 The one-way traffic order of the district administration in the main bazaar area is being violated with impunity. Under the order, all vehicles are to move from the Gandhi chowk area to the hospital chowk. However, several two-wheelers and four-wheelers are seen crossing through the main bazaar from the hospital side towards the Gandhi chowk area. The traffic police at the Gandhi chowk seems ignorant of the order. On the Dharamsala-Shimla highway, scores of vehicles can be seen parked on both sides of the road, violating the orders. Under the order, no heavy vehicles can unload goods during the day on this road. However, vehicles of some “influential” persons can be seen parked on the main road outside shops of grain dealers. The traffic police says it is unable to check such activities due to orders from the higher-ups. It said once these persons were checked, there would be no traffic problem. Similarly, taxis are also parked on both sides of the road. The district administration had allotted separate sites to taxi owners. However, after sometime, they came back. Since there is no by pass, the traffic problem is becoming more acute. Thousands of big and small vehicles cross through the main highway. A plan was mooted to have a bypass for the town, but it is still to be implemented. There are reports that a bypass would now be constructed along with the national highway connecting Shimla with Kangra through Hamirpur. It may take two to three years for the construction of this bypass. In the main bazaar area, shops have come up on both sides of the road. It becomes difficult for pedestrians to cross through the
bazaar. Vehicles can be spotted at places which have been declared no-parking zone. The district administration has failed to provide parking area. The Gandhi chowk area, where most of the government and private offices are located is the worst-hit. A traffic constable there is unable to control the situation as there is no other place where people working in this area can park their vehicles. There is a need for a taxi stand opposite the main bus stand and another parking place near the mini secretariat. |
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HP sets up power regulatory panel New Delhi, March 3 Addressing the Chief Ministers’ conference, he said the state had evolved a new mechanism for restructuring the power sector through a system of separate accounting centres for generation, transmission and distribution system. Electronic meters had been installed at all 550 industrial units having a capacity of 100 KW and above. Nearly 600 hotels in the state would also be provided with such meters within the next three months. Electronic meters would also be provided to all consumers with 20 KW and above by March, 2002.
UNI |
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Landslide near Vidhan Sabha, road caves
in Shimla, March 3 Mr P.C. Katoch, Deputy Commissioner, has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. Mr J. R. Katwal, Additional District Magistrate, will conduct the inquiry to fix responsibility for the landslide and also suggest measures for preventing recurrence of such mishaps in future. A case has been registered against the contractor, private builder and the Irrigation and Public Health Department under Section 336 of the IPC for endangering lives of others by negligence and causing damage to public property. This is the second such incidents over the past six months. Last year, a private building near Winter Field partially collapsed in the landslide triggerred off by negligent and unscientific cutting of hill slope for the construction of a hotel. |
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Give cash relief to farmers: Jan
Shakti Shimla, March 3 The state executive of the party which met under the chairmanship of Mr Ramesh Wadyal, its President, expressed concern over the situation created in the state by the dry spell, leading to an acute shortage of fodder and water, besides damaging crops. The development work carried out as part of relief measures in the drought-hit areas did not actually benefit the affected farmers. Provisions should, therefore, be made for giving them compensation in cash. Through another resolution, the party demanded immediate lifting of ban on the export of khair wood. The ban was harming the interest of growers as a khair tree of one-foot girth was selling at Rs 600 as against Rs 2,400 in Punjab. Mr Lalit Gautam, General Secretary of the party, said party units had been constituted in six out of the total 12 districts. The exercise would be completed in the remaining districts over the next 15 days. He said the party was in favour of a law barring those who had more than two children from contesting elections, besides setting up of a separate ministry for population control. It also wanted agriculture to be declared as an industry. Mr Wadyal also released the list of its state office-bearers. Mr Dalip Bisht—Vice President; Mr Kashmiri Lal — General Secretary; Mr Shadi Lal Sharma — Secretary, Mr Om Prakash — Treasurer; Mr Lal Singh— Assistant Secretary, Mr Maida Ram—Assistant Secretary; Mr Sada Nand Chauhan—Assistant Secretary; Mr Narain Singh—Assistant Secretary; Mrs Sudha Sharma—Vice-President (state Mahila Morcha); Mr Z.A. Bhutto — President (minority cell); Mr Ramesh Bhao—Assistant President; Mr Fateh Singh—President (Paonta-Sirmaur), Mr Sonam Lama—President (Lahaul); Mr Sher Singh Rana — President (Kulu); Mr Virender Sharma—President (Hamirpur); Mr Jawahar Thakur — President (Mandi) and Mr Harminder Thakur—President (Solan). |
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Bus stand site
identified Parwanoo The committee has also recommended to shift the Himachal Roadways Oil-filling Station, which is just situated on the Kalka — Shimla National Highway No. 22. The town experiences lot of traffic jams everyday, sometimes for hours, due to trucks parked idle on both sides of the Kalka-Shimla Highway. Due to lack of a proper bus-stand in this town, the buses going towards Shimla from various parts of
Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, U.P. and Rajasthan have to ask passengers disembark on the highway, which causes traffic hazards on the road and sometime accidents, including fatal ones. The tourists passing through this town also have to undergo lot of problems due to traffic jams for hours. The committee members which includes Rakesh Aggarwal Superintendent of police of
Solan. Sanjay Sharma Assistant Commissioner of Parwanoo, Arun Gupta, Executive engineer of local
H.P. Housing Board office, Executive Engineer of National Highway and Pramod Shukla local Station House Officer of
Parwanoo. According to Assistant Commissioner of Parwanoo, various sites have been recommended by the committee to the Deputy Commissioner of Solan for the purpose earlier and were shown yesterday to the DC, for final
recommendation to the Government of Himachal Pradesh for approval. The
SP, Solan, added that work for the Oil tanker parking area had already
started. |
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Bank
staff protest on labour laws Shimla, March 3 The federation also condemned the reduction in the rate of interest on small saving and provident fund, introduction of voluntary retirement scheme, increase in prices of commodities like edible oil, bidis, diesel, sugar and coffee, large-scale privatisation of public undertakings and amendment in the pension scheme to the detriment of pensioners. |
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