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Saturday,
June 9, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Dhumal
for high alert along borders Callousness
kills cemetery Minister
for cooperation between HP, Uttaranchal Cong men
misleading public: ministers |
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Norwegian
team calls on CM
Palampur to host environment congress Vendor accused
of child abuse Foundation
day of CSIR lab celebrated Conviction
of murder accused set aside Delegation for withdrawal of entry tax In-laws booked for dowry death Girl recovered,
1 held for rape 1
killed as van falls into khud Body recovered
from gorge
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Dhumal for
high alert along borders Shimla, June 8 Inaugurating the conference, Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, said the bold initiative of the Prime Minister to invite Gen Pervez Musharaf, Chief Executive of Pakistan, for talks notwithstanding, the country would not lower its guard and utmost caution would be exercised while dealing with Pakistan and the
ISI. Besides external threats, it had also to deal with internal threats in the shape of fundamentalism, illegal immigration and trans-border terrorism. The armed forces and the civil administration should work in unison to meet the twin challenges effectively. The overall situation in Jammu and Kashmir was under control. However, whenever the security forces mounted pressure on militants it had repercussions in areas bordering the troubled state. Consequently, Chamba district had witnessed massacre of innocent persons by foreign mercenaries. With the extension of road link to remote and inaccessible areas of Pangi from the Jammu and Kashmir side, the need for vigilance was all the more. In the prevailing situation, Mr Dhumal said there was a need to increase the presence of Army in the region. He said he had already taken up the matter with the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister and urged both to constitute a Himalayan Regiment. Since all wars had been and would be fought in the hills, it was logical to have a regiment of hill-people who were willing soldiers and could perform better in the difficult topography. In fact, more training units in the hills were required to acclimatise jawans from plane areas. He said during the Kargil war, 90 per cent of the jawans who participated in Operation Vijay were from hills, particularly Himachal Pradesh and Garhwal. As many as 52 jawans from the state sacrificed their lives. This earned them two Param Vir Chakras, five Ashok Chakras and five Vir Chakras. As many as 63 Himachali soldiers had laid down their lives in the “silent war” which had been continuing after the Kargil conflict. He said the government was committed to the welfare of the serving personnel, ex-servicemen and families of the martyrs. He said vacant posts in the Sainik Welfare Department would be filled soon. Mr Dhumal appreciated the efforts of the Army which promptly came to the rescue of the civil administration, whenever required, and made a special mention of its role in providing relief to affected people during flash floods in the
Sutlej. In his opening address, Lieut-Gen Surjit Singh, GoC-in-C, Western Command, said India had taken several steps to end tension and bring normalcy in the region but peace could prevail only if Pakistan took care of cross-border terrorism and the proxy war being waged by it. The issue of the ISI, which was trying to distabilise the country through its subversive activities, was also closely linked. There were some other aspects of the problems to be handled by the state like settling down of a sizeable chunk of population from Jammu and Kashmir. It was important to keep a watch on them as certain denomination of population was more prone to exploitation by the adversaries. He also emphasised the need for the state government to prepare a detailed workable disaster management plan in consultation with the Army so that it could promptly respond in such situations. He laid special emphasis on the need to look into the welfare of serving and retired soldiers. Mr A.K. Goswami, Chief Secretary, and senior Army and State government officers participated in the conference. Besides security-related matters, issues of mutual interest were also discussed. |
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Callousness
kills
cemetery Dagshai The figures have been damaged by persons who wrongly believe that if a woman possesses a piece of marble from the grave, she will be blessed with a baby boy. It is now not easy to discern the faces of the
figures. The head and wings of the elf have been broken and it is difficult to find the baby in the structure. Broken pieces of marble can be seen lying near the grave. The cemetery was renovated by 2 Battalion of the Bihar Regiment in 1968. Old residents of the area say the desecration of the grave was started by personnel of another regiment which was stationed here. The damage began when the wives of jawans started taking away pieces of marble. Residents recall that during the British period the marble was cleaned daily. Like Mary’s grave, the whole cemetery, with some graves dating back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, is in bad shape. Some unscrupulous persons have even sold the iron fencing and grills as scrap, says Mr Warkat Massih, a local Christian. There is wild growth around. Two rooms at the entrance of the cemetery, one of which is meant for the chowkidar, are in a dilapidated state. During the British period, Indians were not allowed in this area of Dagshai and the cemetery was looked after well. Now nobody seems to bother about it and even the British High Commission pays just Rs 500 annually for its maintenance. The payment was received recently after repeated reminders, laments Mr
Massih. About five years ago, the Executive Officer of the Cantonment Board wrote to the High Commission regarding the maintenance of the cemetery but no concrete action has been taken so far. A road leading to the place has not been repaired for the past 25 years.
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Minister
for cooperation between HP, Uttaranchal Palampur, June 8 The minister said he was highly impressed with progress made by Himachal Pradesh in the development of floriculture and horticulture and hoped that Uttaranchal would also adopt the same. He said by adopting new strategies, the poor people of the hills could be benefited as the floriculture and horticulture were the two major cash crops. He said the horticulture had virtually changed the economy of the apple growers of Himachal Pradesh. Likewise, Uttaranchal had vast potential for apple cultivation and Himachal could extend assistance in this field. He said the IHBT had played a vital role in developing new varieties of cut flowers and also for introducing new technologies for the hill farmers. He appreciated the scientists working in IHBT for taking keen interest in developing cash crops like tea, floriculture and horticulture suitable for the hill states. Mr Rawat said that it was not necessary that the newly created state of Uttaranchal should start from scratch but should pick up from experiences and from point where the Himachal had reached today. He said exchange of scientists and specialists in different subjects could help in this direction in big way. Referring to the construction Tehri Dam in Uttaranchal, he said there were two divergent views regarding construction of this project. He said till date huge investment had already been made on this dam and it should be completed as
clearly as possible but at the same time the interests if displaced persons should also not be forgotten. He said he was always in favour of smaller hydel projects so that the ecological balance of Himalays was not disturbed. Mr Rawat was confident that in the coming assembly elections the BJP would emerge victorious. He said NDA partners barring the BJP and the Samata had no presence in the largest state of the country and achievements of the NDA government at centre would definitely head to
victory. |
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Cong men misleading public: ministers Shimla, June 8 The two ministers said the state government had removed the toll tax imposed by municipal committees during the Congress regime to avoid inconvenience to tourists and people of the state who had to stop at various places for paying the toll tax. Instead, it had imposed the entry tax which was collected at one place. The Bill regarding it was passed in the last Vidhan Sabha session unanimously. They said Mr O.P. Rattan, who had joined the Congress recently, then was a member of the coalition partner, HVC which had taken this decision after detailed deliberations and also taking other into confidence. They said Mr Rattan should have discussed this matter with the HVC leaders earlier and now with Congress leaders who endorsed the government decision in the Vidhan Sabha in this respect. The ministers said the government had rationalised the rate of fee for each category of vehicles according to their loading capacity. For buses, trucks and heavy vehicles, it would be Rs 50 whereas for light vehicles it would be Rs 20. Similarly, for taxies this fee would be Rs 10 and Rs 5 respectively. The rates were much less than the adjoining state of Jammu and Kashmir where the charge for light vehicles was Rs 50 per vehicle. Further, the toll tax was being collected once in 24 hours. Provision had been made for collection of toll tax on a yearly and quarterly basis. This toll would be nominal and would put little burden on regular commuters. Mr Rattan and Mr Virender Gautam, who were at loggerhead in the past, were trying to pose as benefactors of the people of Una by issuing such “baseless statements”. |
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Norwegian
team calls on CM Shimla, June 8 The team expressed satisfaction over the implementation of the Shimla solid waste management and Kulu-Manali solid waste management projects. The Chief Minister emphasised that such projects should be extended to major hospitals in the state. He stressed that the approval of projects which envisaged strengthening of 8000 Mahila Mandals in the state should be expedited. He said the state had a tremendous hydel potential and the government had given greater impetus to this sector. He said tourism was another sector where the state would welcome investment by Norway. |
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Palampur to host environment congress New Delhi, June 8 He is the first senior official from the WTO to visit India after the removal of quantitative restrictions by India. Mr Ravier would speak on the subject “WTO and environment” at the two-day congress beginning on June 16. Ms Maritta Koch-Wesser, who head the environment initiative “Earth 2000” and an authority on environmental laws, will address the gathering on the legal framework for environment. The two-day congress is being organised by UK-based World Environment Foundation and supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution. |
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Vendor accused of
child abuse Nurpur, June 8 As the SDM was on leave, the agitating guardians approached the Tehsildar who forwarded the complaint to the police. The guardians in their complaint alleged that the accused was a village vendor who allured children with toffees and allegedly exploited them sexually. They alleged that the vendor had committed such immoral activity many times in the past but influential villagers had hushed up the matter. On June 4, he had committed the crime again but the village elders again had tried to hush up the issue. The police, when contacted, said it had started investigations but the offender had absconded. |
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Foundation
day of CSIR lab celebrated Palampur, June 8 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Rawat said there was an urgent need for the conservation of ecological resources to check natural calamities like floods and famine. Expressing concern over the large-scale felling of trees in the Himalayan region in the past few years, he said state governments should come out with more stringent laws to punish the defaulters. He said all-out efforts should be made for mass plantations in the Himalayan region. Mr Rawat also launched an equipment designed by IHBT and developed by a private firm of
Ambala. This cost-effective equipment is specially designed and developed for the analysis of specimens with short life-spans. Later, he released the bilingual annual report of the institute. Dr
V.L. Chopra, former Director-General of ICAR, presiding over the function. Dr Paramvir
Ahuja, Director of IHBT, presented an account of the achievements of the institute during the past few years. |
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Conviction
of murder accused set aside Shimla, June 8 According to the prosecution, on October 13, 1998, Mewa Singh, pradhan of Shivpur gram panchayat telephonically informed the police station at Poanta Sahib that Kamaljit Singh had shot his son Surrender Singh. On the basis of this information, a case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered at the police station. Kamaljit pleaded not guilty and said in his statement that on the day in question he had gone to Poanta Sahib to see a person admitted to a hospital. While delivering the judgement, the Bench held that the circumstances of the case were not sufficient to prove that it was Kamaljit who had fired the gun as a result of which his son died. The Bench held that the prosecution had failed to establish the case against Kamaljit beyond reasonable doubt and gave the latter the benefit of the doubt. The Bench set aside the verdict of the Additional Sessions Judge and acquitted Kamaljit of murder. |
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Delegation
for withdrawal of entry tax Parwanoo, June 8 The Parwanoo Industrial Association, the Senior Citizens Welfare Association, the Beopar
Mandal, the Bharat Vikas Parishad and the Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha have urged the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and to exempt the residents and daily commuters from the entry tax. |
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In-laws
booked for dowry death Nurpur, June 8 Surinder Kumar, brother of the deceased, has got an FIR registered against his sisters in-laws alleging that his sister had been harassed by her in-laws who often asked her to bring more dowry and cash from her parents. The police today arrested Narinder Kaul, Bimla Devi and Navdeep, father-in-law, mother-in-law and brother-in-law, respectively, of the deceased. The deceased had been married to Vajay Kumar for three years. |
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Girl recovered,
1 held for rape Kangra, June 8 Kangra district additional police chief, Mr N.D. Sareen said the girl, a resident of Bengali colony, Gaggal, was kidnapped by a married person Gorkha on June 5 last and forcibly taken to Chamunda and kept there confined to a room. She was raped repeatedly by the kidnapper till the police recovered her following a raid on the hideout, Mr Sareen disclosed. He said a case under Sections 363, 366 and 376 of the IPC was registered by the local police and the investigation was in progress. |
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1 killed
as van falls into khud Shimla, June 8 The van was on its way from Nirmand village in Kulu to Shimla. The deceased has been identified as Prem Bhagwan of Nirmand. Dhanpat, other occupant of the vehicle, was injured. He was hospitalised at
Kumarsen. Meanwhile, the body of Ashwani Kumar, a contractor from Jwali in Kangra district, was found from the Churat Nullah near Dhalli, about 6 km from here. The body has been sent for a postmortem. |
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Body recovered from gorge Nahan, June 8 Mr Anupam Sharma, DSP, Rajgarh, said the body seems to be at least 10 days old and could not be identified. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination at Nahan hospital. There was no complaint about any incident or anyone missing from the area. |
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