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Friday,
March 22, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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HP ‘not expecting’
package from PM
Gujarat violence slur on Centre:
Virbhadra |
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Allow Karmapa to visit Sikkim:
Tibetans Himachal plans law on house
construction Abolition of posts
opposed Stokes for redrafting
education policy Morcha to support agitating OBC
youth Project to develop
wastelands Bus operators call off strike Gas agencies for BJP men irk
YC 40 cr released for housing Dalits Vets resent denial of NPA Three shops gutted Jawan cremated
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HP ‘not expecting’
package from PM Shimla,
March 21 Mr Dhumal, who was talking to mediapersons here, said Mr Vajpayee had been invited to give his blessings to them. He had always been helpful to the state and it was up to him to announce a package or not. He
said that the Vajpayee-led government at the Centre had been providing
financial aid to the state from time to time, but Himachal remained
starved of funds during the Congress regime even when a helicopter
load of ministers was taken to Delhi to vainly plead before their own
party’s Prime Minister for financial grants. Mr Dhumal said there had been a marked improvement in relations of the state with the Centre as well as with the neighbouring states. Mr Vajpayee and the Centre had been kind enough to appreciate the development needs of the people of Himachal Pradesh. Financial assistance of Rs 700 crore and project specific assistance amounting to hundreds of crore rupees were provided. The annual Plan had been substantially increased and work on the Rs 500 crore Rohtang tunnel had been ordered to be started from next month. He said the BJP-HVC combine government came into office on March 24, 1998, with an instable political scenario, but today the state was one of the most stable and best administered state in the country. Answering a question whether the BJP and the HVC would jointly fight the Assembly elections, Mr Dhumal said it was for Mr Sukh Ram to decide the matter. He said the past four years had witnessed allround development, fulfilment of election promises and new initiatives to take the state towards self-sufficiency. The election manifesto, which was made a policy document of the government, had been implemented in toto. The Chief Minister listed various other achievements of his government and said the inter-state issues of Shahnehar, Thein Dam and Anandpur Hydel Channel, which were hanging fire since 1983, had been settled amicably with Punjab as a result of which work on these projects has started. He said a major thrust was being given to hydroelectric sector and projects having generation capacity of over 7155 MWs had been started during the past four years. Industrial development had been given a big boost and eco-friendly, employment oriented, income generating and local raw material based industries were being encouraged. Information technology and tourism were also receiving top attention of the government. Horticulturists had been given incentives to increase their production. 2400 km of new motorable roads,150 km of jeepable roads and 190 bridges had been constructed during the past four years. As many as 243 villages had been provided road connectivity. The
social sector and health services were provided additional funds for
carrying out their activities in an effective manner. |
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Negi is Parmar varsity VC Shimla, March 21 |
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Gujarat violence slur on Centre:
Virbhadra Chamba, March 21 Lashing out at the BJP-led government, Mr Virbhadra Singh said it was shameful that a state like Gujarat, where the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was born and spread his message of peace, was now facing a threat to national integration and communal harmony. He said the Centre should deal with the situation firmly. On the issue of construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, he said it was on the election manifesto of the BJP but now the BJP was deviating from this issue as a matter of political convenience. He said the BJP and its offshoots should wait for the court’s verdict failing which the country would face an irreparable loss. Commenting on the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) Mr Virbhadra Singh said, “There is no law like POTO, with suitable modification if it is confined to curb terrorist activities, but I apprehend that it may be used against political opponents for settling scores”. He said, “The state should not have unbridled powers which are likely to be misused against the common man”. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the education system in the BJP-ruled states was being saffronised in an organised way thereby weakening the secular fibre of the country. Speaking about recruitments being made in Himachal Pradesh, he said the ruling BJP government had set aside all norms and qualifications required for jobs in various categories and alleged that the jobs had been given to members of the Sangh Parivar. He, however, denied comment on the issue as the matter was sub judice. Mr Virbhadra Singh expressed concern over the low literacy rate in Chamba district but stated that it was not because there was any dearth of schools. The main reason was a high rate of dropouts in these schools, which could be attributed to grinding poverty in this backward region. The backwardness, too, was an outcome of its geographical locations, he added. |
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Court stays resumption of Virbhadra’s land Shimla, March 21 The stay was granted by a Division Bench consisting of the Chief Justice, Mr W.A. Shishak and Mr Justice L.S. Panta, on a writ petition filed by Ms Meenakshi Kumari, daughter of Mr Virbhadra Singh, challenging the amendment to the HP Ceiling of Land Holdings Act 1972, whereby the adult daughters has been debarred from acquiring ancestral land. The court has fixed April 23 as the next day for hearing the case. The unit of land was inherited by Ms Meenakshi through a will of her sister, Ms Anuradha, who had died some time ago. In her petition, she has described the amended Act of 1974 as unconstitutional and a gender discrimination. It is worth mentioning that Mr Virbhadra Singh had recently filed an application before the Financial Commissioner (Appeals) that he was unaware of the amendment in the Act and the surplus land, if any, might be vested in the government but he should be allowed to exercise the option to choose the land which he would retain. The District Collector has also filed a revision petition seeking resumption of the land. |
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Allow Karmapa to visit Sikkim:
Tibetans Dharamsala, March 21 Followers of the Karmapa, have renewed their efforts to seek permission of the Indian Government to allow him to go to
Sikkim, so that it is he who opens the seal of the precious relics at the Rumtek Monastery, which are to be opened for preparing a quantitative
inventory. The Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, which is the traditional seat of the Karmapas , houses precious relics both in terms of their religious significance and monetary value. “ It is only the Karmapa alone who can touch the relics, especially the crown called “Vajra Mukuta”, as even the great masters of the Kagyu sect are not entitled to do so,” said Tonam Shastri, a close aide of the Karmapa. He said if anyone else other than the Karmapa is allowed to open the relics , even if it is for the purpose of preparing an inventory , it will violate the Karma Kagyu protocol. He said in the past two years they had made a number of requests to the Indian government to let him visit Rumtek Monastery. The Minister for Religion and Culture in the exiled Tibetan government Mr Thupten Lungrik, said they had made several requests to the Indian Government but permission was still awaited. Admitting that the opening of the relics at Rumtek should be done only by the Karmapa as this was the
tradition, he said that Mr Tashi Wangdi was acting as the representative of their Cabinet (Kashag), in New
Delhi, to take up the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs. Mr Tashi Wangdi, a former minister for Religion and Culture in the Tibetan government when contacted the Delhi, said he was in constant touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and had made a request only last month to allow the Karmapa free movement. “Though the followers of the Karmapa, have not approached me directly on the issue of Karmapa opening the relics at Rumtek, but since this has been the
tradition, I shall convey their sentiments to the Indian government,” he stated. “We do not wish to bother the Indian Government time and again on the issue but we are confident that they will take into account the sentiments of the Dalai Lama, who had personally requested the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to allow the Karmapa to go to his traditional seat at Rumtek,”
said Mr Wangdi. He added that at the time of granting refugee status to the Karmapa the Indian authorities had said that he could not be allowed to visit Rumtek for the time being. Though the Karmapa , who took the world by surprise when he made an appearance here in Mcleodganj on January, 5 two years ago has been undertaking long pilgrimage to various places in India, but he has still not been allowed to go to Rumtek in Sikkim and not even to the Sherabling Monastery at Bhattu, about 70 km from here. With the controversy over the opening of the relics at Rumtek catching up it seems that followers of the Karmapa, will step up their efforts to get permission of the Indian Government. |
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Himachal plans law on house
construction Kangra, March 21 Disclosing this on the occasion of Kisan Divas, organised by the Oil Seed Research station of the CSKHP Agriculture University here today, the Agriculture Minister state, Mr Vidya Sagar, said the population was
increasing alarmingly and the agriculture land was shrinking everyday. He stressed upon diversification of crops and asked the farmers to adopt floriculture as a major crop. He further stressed upon the need to adopt the recent scientific technologies for better crop production. He said the farmers should produce oil seeds and pulses as the country had to import. Mr Vidya Sagar said the state had achieved a target of 17.5 lakh tonnes of agricultural of produce during the current financial year. He said the vegetable production had touched 6.55 lakh tonnes during the current financial year against 4.50 lakh tonnes in 1997-98. He said the government had spent Rs 15.57 crore and 15.01 crore on the RIDF project V and VI, respectively. Earlier, Dr Tej Partap, Vice-Chancellor of the CSKHPKV, Palampur, announced that Himachal will be first state and CSKHPKV the first agriculture university in the country which will have a ‘Krishi Mehla Training School’, a project of the ICR to train women in the field of agriculture. A seed sale centre was set up and an agriculture exhibition was held on the occasion. |
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Abolition of posts
opposed Bilaspur, March 21 Presided by state NGOs’ president Ganga Singh Thakur and attended by presidents and general secretaries of all departmental employees unions and federation’s district units the meeting of State Federal Committee here last evening also adopted resolutions opposing the abolition of posts in various departments and imposition of the State Veterinary Council. The State Federal Committee demanded registration of veterinary pharmacists for private practice and special allowance and hazard allowances to firemen, leading firemen and drivers of the Fire Brigade and second Saturday as holiday in the fire brigade department. The meeting demanded filling of posts of Superintendent, grade-I, in the PWD Department and restoration of power of granting leave to
employees in the department to the head of office as done earlier. Another resolution demanded that in the offices of Deputy Directors (Education), post of Superintendent, grade I, be created and in senior secondary schools and high schools posts of Superintendents and clerks be created. The meeting thanked the Chief Minister for removing anomalies in pay scales of 20 categories of employees and providing them pay scales on the Punjab pattern in the recent Budget apart from sanctioning dearness allowance since July last year to all employees. |
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Stokes for redrafting
education policy Solan, March 21 She said the Dhumal government had failed to safeguard Himachal’s vital interests while concluding and signing off various Memoranda of Understanding with private sector parties. Ms Stokes also came down heavily on the education policies pursued by the BJP government adding that there were almost one million unemployed educated youth registered with the employment exchanges in the state. She said there was an urgent need to redraft the education policy. Greater emphasis would have to be made to provide employment-oriented education. She said the Congress had drawn up a plan under which the syllabus of various technical educational institutions would be prepared in consultation with the industrial sector. It would be ensured that the frontiers of science and technology, particularly information technology, were properly explored. She reiterated the Congress party’s resolve to provide a job to at least one member of each family in the state after coming to power. She alleged that the law and order situation was deteriorating. She said immediate steps had to be taken to restore the people’s confidence in the Civil Administration by introducing transparency and accountability in the Civil Services. She said the Congress had also planned drastic changes in the labour policy. She said it would explore all possible avenues for providing basic facilities like housing and health care to the working class. To this end, the party was also contemplating to institute measures aimed at providing job security and satisfaction and improving the working environments. Ms Stokes denied the charges of factionalism in the Congress calling these as baseless rumours. |
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Morcha to support agitating OBC
youth Dharamsala, March 21 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the morcha, comprising five parties, would participate in the “black day” being observed by the OBC’s on March 24 at Kangra on the occasion of the completion of four years of a regime which had gone back on its promise. “It was the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, who had promised the OBCs 27 per cent reservation if they voted the BJP to power, so the people want that he should fulfil this promise when he visits Shimla on Sunday,” he demanded. Mr Mohinder Singh said when he had raised the reservation issue of the OBCs during the Assembly session, the government remained non-commital and just brushed it aside. He said even the Budget presented by the Chief Minister pampered all other sections except the OBCs. He lashed out at the BJP regime for failing to tackle the growing problem of unemployment. Instead of giving mini and micro hydel projects in the state to outsiders the work must be given to cooperatives of unemployed youths, who can get loans from the banks,” he said. He said this way about 2.50 lakh unemployed youths could get work. |
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Project to develop
wastelands Dharamsala, March 21 Disclosing this here yesterday, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Prabodh Saxena, said the project titled “Integrated Wasteland Development Project, Kangra- Phase IV” would cover 6,268 hectares in the Nagrota Bagwan block. The project to be implemented by the DRDA would be covered under 11 microwater sheds in panchayats of Jalot, Sarotri, Sadun, Danoa, Sunhi, Khaba, Kandi, Than, Toru, Aerla and Babulehar. Mr Saxena said multifarious activities like the formation of village and watershed development committees and strengthening of the group formation through self-help activities would be undertaken. Apart from this, the development of water sources through major and minor engineering works, water harvesting structures and water distribution would be strengthened. Mr Saxena said people of the area would benefit as it had also been envisaged to undertake the plantation of broad leaf species for fodder, fuel, fibre food and timber requirement. Soil and water conservation through contour farming, step-cropping, contour bunding shall also be taken care of. He said attention would also be paid to the development of pastures, grasslands,
horticulture, orchards and nurseries and diversification. |
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Bus operators call off strike Dharamsala, March 21 Disclosing this here today, Mr Kapoor said he was confident that the problems of bus operators would be solved after talks with the government which would be held in the first week of April. Mr Kapoor met bus operators from Chamba, Kangra, Hamirpur and Sirmaur here today. The Transport Minister assured the representatives of private bus operators that as soon as the committee headed by the Chief Secretary submitted its report on token tax, the matter would be resolved. He said the government had always been sympathetic towards the problems of private bus operators. He hoped that in the future, instead of adopting a path of confrontation, issues pertaining to the bus operators would be resolved amicably through talks with
the government. The private bus operators in the state had decided to go on a strike on March 24 when the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, would be addressing a rally at Shimla. |
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Gas agencies for BJP men irk
YC Shimla, March 21 Kanwar Joginder Singh, general secretary of the State Youth Congress, today said he had complained to the President of India that irregularities were committed in the allotment of the gas agencies and petrol stations these should be cancelled. He alleged that the Dealer Selection Board was making these allotments on pick-and-chose basis. The interview of candidates being conducted at Mandi was a mere formality and the genuine cases were left out. |
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40 cr released for housing Dalits Nahan, March 21 He said persons engaged in carrying night soil would be rehabilitated and added that district-level monitoring committees had been constituted to monitor rehabilitation work. He clarified that Safai Karamchari was a wide term which included any person, irrespective of caste, engaged in these activities, part time or full time, who would get benefit of the welfare schemes. Earlier in a meeting of district officials, he directed the health authorities to ensure health check up of Safai Karamcharis at least once in a quarter to check the chances of affliction of diseases. Mr Teja expressed dissatisfaction over the condition of Dalits in Sirmaur district. He asked the Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur, to inquire into the matter. Mr Teja demanded that two per cent reservation for Dalits in the country on the pattern of Punjab. He said he had sent his recommendations to the government to immediately discontinue contractorship system in the field of sanitation in hospitals and other institutions. |
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Vets resent denial of NPA Chamba, March 21 According to a press note issued here today, Dr Anish Kumar, state press secretary of the Himachal Veterinarians Association
(HVA), the denial of 25 per cent NPA to veterinarians had shown the governments’ indifferent and discriminatory attitude towards the whole community. Dr Anish Kumar urged the Himachal Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, to release the 25 per cent NPA to veterinarians during the current Budget session in order to alleviate the sufferings of veterinary doctors in the state and requested to avoid any confrontation between the HVA and the state government. |
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Three shops gutted Hamirpur, March 21 Eyewitnesses told this reporter that the fire brigade personnel reached the spot immediately after getting the information of fire. They did their best to control the flames with the help of the local people but could not save the entire property. Power supply was immediately off to avoid any further damage to the nearby shops. Senior district officers also reached the spot and supervised the fire extinguishing operations. A senior officer claimed that the fire was accidental and immediate financial relief would be given to the affected persons. |
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Jawan cremated Kulu, March 21 His body was brought to his native village and cremated today. The Sub-divisional Magistrate laid wreath on his body on behalf of the Himachal Pradesh Government. The SHO,
Banjar, and a large number of villagers of the area attended the funeral. |
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