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Thursday,
January 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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HP
Opposition keeping mum Education
budget raised to 933 cr: minister HP Budget
on March 8 Sundernagar
backward despite special budget Cong
created regional divide: Dhumal |
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Cong backs
private bus operators’ plea Himotkarsh
awards announced 6
arrested with 20 kg charas Lakes,
water in pipes freeze 26
panchayats to hold bandh today Carrying
message of unity on cycles Tributes
paid to Gandhi, martyrs Fewer
leprosy cases in Kulu AIDS
awareness programme
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HP Opposition keeping mum Shimla, January 30 Not even a single political party has come forward to raise its voice against the decision of the Cabinet. The HVC of Mr Sukh Ram, which is a ruling alliance partner and has from time to time been expressing concern over the degradation of ecology, had also been keeping mum on this issue. Certain activists of the ruling BJP have welcomed the decision and were showering praises on Chief Minister, P.K. Dhumal for increasing the height of buildings to five storeys from the existing restriction of three storeys. Senior leaders of the Congress, who have generally been criticising the Dhumal government on various issues, were keeping quiet probably because of the coming elections to the prestigious Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) and the Assembly. A councillor of the Congress said the issue was sensitive and uttering anything against it could prove suicidal, particularly in the elections to the SMC which were due in mid-May. Because of this no one was in a position to annoy the powerful lobby which had been pressurising the state government to lift the restrictions on the height of the buildings. Mr Manoj Kumar, a councillor who has been expelled from the Congress, has welcomed the decision. It is being claimed by certain sections that the decision has come as a sop because the BJP was trying to fulfil its dream to capture at least once the SMC which has so far remained the domain of the Congress. The BJP has never succeeded in dislodging the Congress from the SMC ever since the first election was held 16 years ago in 1986. At the moment the 25-member SMC has 23 councillors, from the Congress while the BJP has only two. In the elections to the SMC held during the BJP regime of Mr Shanta Kumar in 1992, the BJP failed to secure even a single seat while the Congress got 18 while two were bagged by Independents when the strength of the House was 21. Both BJP and the Congress were trying to score a point over each other to please the electorate and increasing the height of the buildings was a step in this direction. Although it was being claimed by BJP supporters that the common people will benefit from the decision, it is being asked whether the ordinary man was financially capable of constructing a five-storey structure. The Congress, which is controlling the SMC, was also not lagging behind in providing sops to the electorate and had recently refused to implement the government’s decision of increasing water tariff. The decision to levy a fee on vehicles parked on the roads was also shelved. Municipal councillors of both these parties had come face to face recently on The Mall here when Mr Narendera Bragta, Horticulture Minister, who represents the Shimla constituency in the Assembly, was on a foundation stone-laying spree and Congress activists took objection to it. |
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Education budget raised
to 933 cr: minister Dharamsala, January 30 Addressing a press conference here today, he said instead of opening more schools, the focus of the government was to strengthen the existing institutions, so that quality education can be imparted to the students. “Despite financial constraints, we have raised the budget on education under plan from 12 per cent to 16 per cent, which is likely to go up further, stated Mr Dhiman. While expressing satisfaction over the steps taken by the authorities to check copying inside the examination
centers, the minister said steps should be taken to maintain secrecy in the education board. “It has come to our notice that the level of secrecy that is required in the education board is not being maintained and there are some employees who are in helping those seeking favours,” he said. He said the process of identifying such persons would
begin and they would be penalised if found guilty. Mr Dhiman said a number of scholarships for meritorious students especially for the weaker sections were being given and a total of about Rs 9 crore was being spent annually on it. Apart from this Himachal Pradesh Education Board was giving separate scholarship worth Rs 3.62 crore annually to the needy and meritorious students. Lauding the efforts of the education board, Mr Dhiman said now all information regarding examination and admissions would be available on the website to be launched very soon. He said the board had for the first time provided all results, including subject-wise break up of marks on the internet for the convenience of students. He said a decision had been taken to hold all examinations of the board in March, instead of December, from now onwards.
Twenty two posts of deputy directors had been created and four zonal posts had been scrapped. The minister said during the last four years jobs in different categories had been provided to 11,971 persons in the Education Department. Apart from this services of 4192 primary teachers had been
regularised. |
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HP Budget on March 8 Shimla, January 30 The month-long session will have 17 sittings and Chief Minister, P.K. Dhumal will present the Budget on March 8. The Speaker, Thakur Gulab Singh, said the House would have a recess from March 16 to 24 during which the departments related to standing committees will scrutinise the demands for grants. The session would begin with the Governor’s Address to the House on February 26 and end on March 28. Two days had been earmarked for private members’ business. |
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Sundernagar
backward despite special budget Mandi, January 30 A two-day visit to this far-flung valley by mediapersons revealed that these people were toiling hard to make a living. Even small children were engaged in uprooting certain herbs which dealers purchased at a throwaway price equivalent to that of fuel wood. A local Congress leader, Mr Dile Ram Chauhan, who remained Chairman of the Block Development Committee from 1973 to 1977 and 1978 to 1981, said the plan to
develop this area was conceived in 1962 when a survey of the 48-km Pandar-Tatapani road was conducted. However, nothing was done for 10 years but after a lot of persuation by people, work was taken up in 1972. He said in the past 30 years, only a 41-km stretch of road had been completed and work had come to a standstill for the past over a year. The completion of the rest of the road was crucial for the locals as it would shorten the distance to Shimla by 25 km and benefit the area. Schools and health institutions here are in a deplorable state for want of teachers and doctors. There is no staff at Bragat, Doghri and Bohi health sub-centres. Vidya upasaks have been recruited here under a new scheme, but they are from outside the valley and reportedly never come, making a mockery of primary education. Also there is no police station nearby. Three constituencies — Karsog, Nachan and Sundernagar — are component of this valley. Ironically, two of the constituencies are represented by Cabinet ministers. Thakur Roop Singh, Forest Minister, represents the Sundernagar constituency while Mr Mansa Ram, Food and Supplies Minister, represents the Karson constituency. |
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Cong created regional divide: Dhumal Dharamsala, January 30 Mr Dhumal today addressed a public meeting at
Shahpur. He said the BJP-HVC regime was committed towards undertaking uniform and balanced development of the state. “The Congress not only concentrated the development works in the few select areas but created a divide between the people of the state on the basis of caste and region”, he alleged. Lashing out at the Congress for levelling charges of regional discrimination against his government, Mr Dhumal said the Virbhadra Singh government started the Tanda medical college without the approval of the Medical Council of India or any budgetary provision as it was just an election gimmick. Mr Dhumal said the work on the 12 mw Kholi power project had started, “it is our government which gave a minimum support price of Rs 3.75 for the mango by bringing it under the market intervention scheme”, he stated. The Chief Minister earlier laid the foundation stone of a community health centre at Shahpur to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.12 crore. He also laid the foundation stone for a bridge over the Dohb nullah on the Shahpur-Jwali road to be made at a cost of Rs 26 lakh. The Health Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda, and the Parliamentary Secretary Mr Shaveen Chaudhary, also addressed the gathering. |
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Cong backs private bus operators’ plea Shimla, January 30 Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Milkhi Ram Goma, President of the Kangra district unit of the party, said the Central Government had increased the price of diesel thrice and no hike in tariff of private buses had been allowed by the state government. The owners of these buses were facing losses. He said a delegation of bus operators from Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kulu and Mandi met him recently and apprised him of miserable condition being faced by them. The Regional Transport Offices (RTO) at Hamirpur, Kulu, Solan have been changed and for past one month the work in these offices had come to a halt. He alleged that unemployment in the state had increased and there was discontent among the youth. He also criticised the increase in token tax. He alleged that no development had taken place in Kangra district ever since the BJP government came to power. He said the HPCC President, Mrs Vidya Stokes would start campaigning for the Punjab Assembly election from February 5. |
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Himotkarsh
awards announced Una, January 30 Disclosing this, president of the organisation Kanwar Hari Singh said the awardees had been selected by a panel of eminent personalities. The 11 national integration awardees include Gen V.N. Sharma (retd) for dedication to the nation, Dr Jagan Nath Azad (Jammu and Kashmir) for literature, Dr Durga Datt Shastri (Himachal) for art and culture, Ramkrishna Mission Seva Ashram, Kankhal (Uttaranchal) for social service, Olympian bronze medalist K. Malleshwari Devi (Haryana) for sports, Constable Santosh Yadav (CRPF) for gallantry, S.K. Dudeja, director NHPC, Banikhet for environment, Ramesh Vinayak, Special Correspondent, India Today (Chandigarh) for Journalism, S.S. Sangal, director, National Open School (Delhi) for education, Mangalam Organisation (Lucknow) for service to the handicapped and Gian Sthal Mandir organisation, Ludhiana, for social service. Hari said the Himachal Shree awardees are: Mr D.R. Thakur, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (retd) (Solan), Rahul Anand (IAS) ADC, Kangra, for public service, Vidya Chand Thakur, Secretary, Art, Culture and Language Academy (Shimla) for literature, Hem Kant Katyayan (Mandi) for journalism, Sangram Singh (Nahan) for sports (cricket), Bimla Devi (Chamba) for art and culture, Krishan Lal Sharma, retired headmaster (Bilaspur) for education and Baba Faquir Singh of Jai Maa Ashram, Sugamtoli (Kangra) for social service. Besides, he said, DIG Mohinder Lal (BSF) belonging to Dehlan village in Una district, who was a member of the World Cup shooting team, has been chosen for the Shaan-e-Una award. |
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6 arrested with 20 kg charas Shimla, January 30 The police said 10.5 kg of charas was seized from Ram Lal, a resident of Chopal, during checking near the Boilugang barrier here. Italian national Michael was arrested and 1.5 kg of charas was seized from him at the Beas bridge at Manali. Balraj, driver of a van, was arrested for possessing 5.8 kg of charas near Bhuntar in Kulu. His accomplice, Surinder Kumar, however, managed to escape, the police said. A Nepalese, Ram Bahadur, was arrested at Manali and 1.2 kg of charas seized from his
possession while 200 gm of the contraband was seized from Soni Kumar near Palampur. It said 900 gm of charas was seized from Ghulam Rasul at Banikhet . |
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Lakes, water in pipes freeze Shimla, January 30 The night temperature remained 3°C to 4°C below normal resulting in the freezing of taps and water pipes in higher hills and parts of Shimla. Thick ground frost occurred in higher hills, hampering vehicular traffic in the morning. Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi groaned under biting cold wave conditions with the minimum temperature staying between -15°C and -25°C. All natural sources of water, including lakes, ponds, springs and rivulets were frozen. A 70-km stretch of Spiti river and its tributory Chandra-Bhaga were also frozen, causing a sharp fall in the discharge of water in the
snowed Sutlej, Beas and Ravi. The mighty Dhauladhar ranges in Kangra and Rohtang Pass in Kulu experienced fresh snow.
PTI |
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26 panchayats to hold bandh today Shimla, January 30 The call for the bandh has been given by the local Sunni Beopar
Mandal. The protesters will block the Shimla-Karsog highway by staging
dharans. According to Mr Kapil Gupta, spokesman for the mandal, the health centre which catered to the needs of 13 panchayats each of Shimla and Mandi districts had been in bad shape eversince it was upgraded in October 1999. As against the sanctioned seven posts of doctors only two were presently working. A dental surgeon had been posted but there was no equipment for him to work with. Similarly, an X-Ray plant was installed but no technician recruited to run it. The repeated pleas of the local people for filling the vacant posts of doctors and
para-medical staff and upgrading the facilities had not yielded results. Mr J.P.
Nadda, Health Minister, had assured a deputation in November last that all problems would be solved by the first week of December but no follow up action had been taken. |
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Carrying
message of unity on cycles Kangra, January 30 The youths on cycles from Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir carrying the message of national unity and patriotism with a moto “ham karay rashtra aradhana” (let us worship the nation) had started from the Gurdwara Paonta Sahib on January 11 on the eve of birthday of Guru Gobind Singh and would reach Delhi on February 11. The Executive Director of the Nehru Yuva Kendra, Mr R.S. Bangial, said here today that this was one of the four such yatras which was scheduled to start from Joshi math in Uttaranchal but due to heavy snowfall there it was started from Paonta Sahib. He said the other yatras, started from Puri in Orissa, Dwarika in Gujarat and Kaldi in Kerala, would converge in Delhi on February 21. The member of the National Youth March later reached Shahpur and were received there by the Chief Minister, Prof P.K. Dhumal, on the occasion of the state-level youth conference. |
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Tributes
paid to Gandhi, martyrs Shimla, January 30 The Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan, paid floral tributes to Gandhi at his statute on The Ridge. Ministers of State Narinder Bragta and Roop Das Kayshap, Mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation and councillors, among others, were present. A two-minute silence was also observed in the memory of those who laid down their lives during the freedom
struggle. |
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Fewer leprosy cases in Kulu Shimla, January 30 This was stated by Mr Chander Sen, Vice-Chairman of the HPMC, while speaking at a function organised at Shamshi in Kulu to mark Leprosy Eradication Day today. He also distributed sweets, fruits, clothes and shoes among leprosy patients. Dr Om Prakash, district leprosy officer, appreciated the contribution of panchayats and NGOs in making the programme a success. |
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AIDS awareness programme Mandi, January 30 According to Dr Hemant
Kapoor, who is in charge of the AIDS awareness programme, 1272 camps would be organised in Mandi district, 16 of them in urban areas. The Himachal Government has allocated Rs 2.66 crore for the AIDS awareness programme during the current financial year. |
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