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Monday,
January 28, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Kainthla panel biased:
Virbhadra Dhiman seeks apology from
Virbhadra |
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CPI to expose Dhumal
govt’s failures SP denies ultras’ hand in
blast Minister sues ex-MLA for defamation Journey that wasn’t last
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Gaiety marks R-Day
functions Shimla, January 27 Braving piercing cold, the hill folk turned out in the thousands to witness the celebrations at the state capital and various district headquarters where colourful functions were held on the occasion. The weather god greeted the crowd with snowflakes as the Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan, unfurled the Tricolour at the state-level function on the historic Ridge here yesterday. He took the salute at an impressive march past by the contingents of the ITBP, police, Home Guards, NCC and ex-servicemen. Mr Varinder Kanwar, Additional Superintendent of Police, commanded the parade. The attractive tableaux brought out by various departments and corporations to depict the progress made by the state were among the highlights of the programme. The cultural programme presented by troupes from within the state and neighbouring states delighted the people. Sun Shine Public School, Rampur, presented an item on fight against terrorism which was appreciated by the Governor and all others. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, gave Rs 21,000 to the school. The Governor’s wife, Mrs Chamali Devi, the Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, the Minister of the State for Animal Husbandry, Dr Ram Lal Markandey, Mrs Jani Prem, Mayor, Municipal Corporation of Shimla, chairmen and vice-chairmen of various boards and corporations and senior officers also attended the function. Later in the evening, a “kavi sammelan” was organised at Raj Bhavan. Inaugurating the sammelan, Dr Bhan said poems and literature written in any language created awareness, besides entertaining the people. He honoured the poets with Himachali caps, muflars and shawls. The Governor also released an Urdu poetry book “Aanch”, written by Suresh Chand Shauk. Mr Dhumal, Mr Ganesh Dutt, Vice-Chairman, Housing Board, Mr Harsh Gupta, Chief Secretary, Mr A.K.Puri, DGP, were among those present. Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, Speaker, unfurled the Tricolour and took the salute it an impressive march past in Solan. Referring to the achievements of the state in the development front, he said Himachal had emerged as the model for development of hilly areas in the country. He said the literacy percentage of the state had gone up to 77 and the state stood at number three in the country in this regard. He said farmers of Solan district would benefit after the completion of a marketing complex being constructed at a cost of Rs 4.50 crore. At Nahan, Mr Kishori Lal, Industries Minister, unfurled the Tricolour. He said the successful launch of the short-range Agni missile was a matter of pride for the entire nation. Regarding the industrial progress he said a sum of Rs 423 crore had been invested during the past 46 months in the state. In all, 3000 industrial units were set up, providing employment to 18,000 persons. Presiding over the district-level function at Hamirpur, Mr J.P. Nadda, Health Minister, said the endeavour of the government was to consolidate the health institutions in the state by providing latest equipment, doctors and para-medical staff so that people got better healthcare at the doorstep. He said seven district hospitals had been upgraded to zonal hospitals, 19 primary health centres to community health centres. He said the strength of health institutions in the state had reached to 2,685. Mr Mansa Ram, Food and Civil Supplies Minister, unfurled the Tricolour at the historic Dhalpur Ground in Kulu. He said the state had made tremendous progress in education, health, roads and the hydel sector during the past three and a half years. Due to the concerted efforts the work on the ambitious 2051 MW Parwati Project was started in Kulu district, which had been hanging fire since long. Mr Roop Singh Thakur, Forest Minister, took the salute at Dharamsala. He announced that the Rs 60-crore Indo-UK Forestry Project phase-II would be taken up soon. He said special stress was being laid on afforestation schemes with the people’s participation, besides protection of the precious forest wealth in the state. Presiding over the function at Mandi, the Agriculture Minister, Mr Viday Sagar, paid tributes to all those who laid down their lives for the freedom of the motherland. He cautioned the people against nefarious designs of anti-national elements who were trying to destabilise the unity and integrity of the country. Mr I.D. Dhiman, Education Minister, unfurled the Tricolour and took the salute at Bilaspur. Speaking on the occasion, he said the state government had opened 1,077 new educational institutions and appointed 10,747 teachers during the past 46 months. Mr Kishan Kapoor, Transport Minister, unfurled the Tricolour at Una. He said the Himachal Road Transport Corporation had added 200 new buses to its fleet. He said route permits had been given to private parties to provide better transport services and added that 2,300 private buses were plying in the state. Mr Ramesh Chaudhary, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, after unfurling the Tricolour at Chamba said strict vigil was being kept in the border areas of Chamba district. He said the government was committed to provide potable water to all in the state and the Irrigation and Public Health Department had spent Rs 441.99 crore for providing irrigation and drinking water during the past 46 months. He said 10,218 hand pumps were installed in the state till now. Presiding over the function at Rekong Peo in Kinnaur, Mr Narinder Bragta, Minister of State for Horticulture, said the government was giving top priority to horticulture. Mr C.R.B. Lalit, Deputy Commissioner, unfurled the Tricolour at Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti. |
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Mauritius President in Shimla Shimla, January 27 Mr Daneellal Seewoo, High Commissioner of Mauritius in Delhi, and Mr Vijay Kumar, India’s High Commissioner to Mauritius, accompanied the President. Mr Uteem was thrilled to see the hill landscape covered with dazzling white snow. He was greeted with snowfall as soon as he arrived at the Oberoi Cecil hotel where he will stay for the night. He started off for Mashobra to enjoy snow but had to return halfway, as vehicles could not ply on the snow-covered road beyond Dhalli. He later had a stroll on the Mall in the evening. |
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Kainthla panel biased:
Virbhadra Shimla, January 27 Responding to Mr Dhumal’s statement on Thursday that he and other Congress men should tender a public apology. Mr Virbhadra Singh said that in fact Mr Dhumal should tender an apology for having made a “mockery of the commission of enquiry and to defame the Congress party”. He alleged that the report of the commission was not only “totally biased and one-sided, but it was also contrary to the facts on record and deals with concocted incidents which never occurred”. Rejecting the report, Mr Virbhadra Singh said that the Congress party had never asked for a judicial inquiry in the matter as stated by the Chief Minister. We had been demanding an inquiry by a sitting judge of the high court in case the government intended to hold an inquiry into these alleged incidents of March 1998. He said that Mr Dhumal handpicked Mr Kainthla, a retired Sessions Judge, for this assignment. Incidentally, he has been given such assignment for the sixth time now during the chief ministership of Mr Shanta Kumar and Mr Dhumal. Mr Virbhadra Singh said that the clean chit given to him by the CBI was a “slap on the face of Mr Dhumal” and his statement that the clean chit was given for want of certain documents was obviously an afterthought and an attempt to somehow keep the issue alive by using the CBI as an instrument for his political propaganda against “me”. People have now seen through the game plan of the Chief Minister and no amount of antics on his part was going to befool or misguide the people. |
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Dhiman seeks apology from
Virbhadra Hamirpur, January 27 He said the incidents were a blot on democracy and must be condemned. Talking to reporters here today, he justified the report of the Justice Kainthla Commission on the incidents and said the report had exposed the real face of the Congress leaders. He said instead of raising protests on the commission report, the Congress leaders should go to the people and seek an apology from them as they had taken the law into their own hands. Mr Dhiman said the state had seen a corruption-free government under the leadership of Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal. |
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CPI to expose Dhumal
govt’s failures Bilaspur, January 27 Releasing to the Press proceedings of the meeting of CPI’s state council here on Friday, CPI national council member Mr Himal Chand and CPI state secretariat member Mr Harilal Sharma, said the meeting took government to task for increasing power rates making electricity out of reach of common man and burdening the common consumer with above Rs 20 crore as taxes and at the same time providing relief to cement factories and big industrialists to the tune of Rs 12 crore. Another resolution said instead of fulfilling its promise of confirming every employee who had completed five years of service, the government had retrenched thousands of labourers in various departments. The imposition of users’ charges in hospitals was also flayed at the meeting. It was decided to present the “real face” of the BJP to the masses and start a six-week “jan jagran abhiyan” in the state till February 23. |
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SP denies ultras’ hand in
blast Chamba, January 27 The SP said that some unidentified miscreants of the local area of Pangi tribal valley had buried gelantine in the precincts of the temples, which suddenly blew up and destroyed the surroundings of the temple on Friday. He said the police registered a case under the Explosives Act. The SP stated that according to the investigations the explosion was the outcome of a group clash over the temple construction. A manhunt has been launched by the police to arrest the miscreants. Scare prevails among the residents of tribal belt arising out of this incident. |
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Minister sues ex-MLA for defamation Kangra, January 27 The minister said the petition was filed on January 18, last, before the District Judge Kangra at Dharamsala. He said the petition stated that Mr Choudary levelled charges against him through media that he had struck a deal of Rs 50 lakh for tyre threading when had additional charge of Transport Minister. He said Mr Daulat Chaudary had further charged that this deal was cancelled by Mr Krishen Kapoor when he again assumed the charge of Transport Minister and Mr Vidya Sagar was relieved of the additional charge. Mr Vidaya Sagar further said these charges levelled against him were baseless and concocted as there was no such deal struck by him when he had additional charge of Transport Minister. |
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Journey that wasn’t last Kumarhatti, January 27 Around 8.30 p.m. on Thursday he tried to burn himself by sprinkling some inflammable liquid upon himself and even cut one of his left hand veins using a knife. The station staff rushed to the cottage after he made a call to save him. He received minor burns. However, a quilt, a blanket and some other goods in the room were burnt in the incident. He was admitted to the Zonal Hospital where he revealed that his original name was Surinder Chibber and he was a resident of New Delhi. He provided his home telephone number following which his relatives were informed who reached Solan on Friday morning. According to his relatives, he left the house on January 23 on the pretext that he was going for some work and would return in 10 minutes. |
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