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Tuesday,
May 28, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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HP rolls
back power tariff hike Forest-fires
cause huge loss Thirsty
residents turn to PM for funds ‘Implement
provisions for disabled’ Police
fires in air to disperse mob |
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Railway
priority project fails to take off MC chief
voted out of office BJP men
flout chief’s whip BJP
decries charges against minister College
a boon for Nurpur 3 pc
grace marks for class XI students 10,000
to take part in Cong rally 3
pilgrims die as truck overturns Mohinder
Singh floats party
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HP rolls back power tariff hike Shimla, May 27 The decision was taken at the meeting of the state Cabinet presided over by Mr
P. K. Dhumal, Chief Minister. As per the decision, the power tariff which was applicable to various categories of domestic consumers prior to November 1, 2001, when the revised rates as per the tariff order of the state Electricity Regulatory Commission came into force, will be restored from the first of next month. Giving details of the decisions, Mr Harsh Gupta, Chief Secretary, said the Cabinet discussed the impact of the increase in power tariff on domestic consumers and also took into consideration the views of various sections of society appearing in the Press and decided to issue directions to the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board to charge power tariff at the rates in force prior to the implementation of the revised rates. It was further directed the board would be compensated by the government by making good the financial liability on this account in public interests. The board was asked to take various measures and formulate an action plan for improving its overall efficiency and reducing leakages, power theft and transmission and distribution losses. The Cabinet decided to give subsidy on various types of cartons being manufactured by the government-owned Agro Industrial Packaging India Ltd. (AIPIL) as well as private industries so that fruit growers can get quality cartons in adequate quantity at reasonable rates. Like previous years, the government has decided to give subsidy at source on telescopic standard apple cartons and 10 kg Kulu carton at the rate of Rs 10 and Rs 5 per carton, respectively. The subsidy on such cartons being manufactured by private “corrugators” would be given at the rate of Rs 8 and Rs 4 per carton, respectively. Besides, the subsidy on strawberry cartons, plum cartons and almond cartons manufactured by the AIPIL and private “corrugators” would be given at the rate of Rs 3, Rs 1.50 and Rs 1 per carton, respectively. The maximum limit of subsidy on the packing cases of fruits would be Rs 12,000 per
orchardist. The transport subsidy on the import of eucalyptus, popular wood (phattis and geltus) from neighbouring states would be given at the rate of Rs 10 per quintal on the import of geltus or Re 1 per standard box. The maximum subsidy limit of Rs 1,000 per truck would be made available for Shimla, Mandi, Kulu, Chamba, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts whereas these rates are Rs 5 per quintal on the import of geltus or Rs 0.50 per standard box with maximum subsidy limit of Rs 500 per truck for Solan, Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Kangra district. This scheme would be available to the various beneficiaries up to February, 2003. The Cabinet decided that the state should participate in the competition being held for the selection of an engineering institution under the Technical Education Quality Improvement Project (TEQIP) by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The state government would sponsor polytechnique colleges of the state, which would meet the eligibility criteria for competing with the similar institution of other states. The Cabinet also approved the acceptance of the recommendations of the cadre review committee of the Government of India to reduce the cadre strength of Indian Forest Service officers in the state from 107 to 102 over a period of five years. The same policy is now being followed with respect to the cadre strength of IAS and IPS officers. The Cabinet gave its approval for the establishment of a project for the control of cancer to be fully funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which would provide Rs 2.19 crore for the implementation of this project in the state over a period of five years. However, the Cabinet approved the recommendation of the Planning Department that the staff for this project would be totally internalised and the post-project running cost would be met from the normal allocation of the sector. |
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Forest-fires cause huge loss Kangra, May 27 Mr
R. K. Kapoor, Chief Conservator of Forests (Protection), Himachal said that 56 cases of forest fire happened in the current summer in Kangra Forest Circle alone which has affected 550 hectares of forest land destroying forest wealth worth lakhs of rupees. He said that officials of the department had been directed to visit the affected forests. He said as soon as forest fire was reported the department lodges FIR with the police. It has been noticed that FIR in case of the forest fires, which was mandatory, was not being taken care of in every case thus most of the forest fires get unregistered. According to scientists with the Forest Department every year in the summer forest fires in the state lead to loss of precious Flora and Fauna. They said that fires mostly occur in the Chil Pine areas where thick layer of the dry Chil Pine needles on the ground, highly inflammable, once gets lighted accidentally or wilfully it engulfs the entire area and it becomes unmanageable. They said that Chil Planting was preferred over the other broad leaf species as cattle don’t eat Chil plant and due to resin content it was not being used as firewood and thus survive. The scientists said that it was because of this reason Chil was planted in a big way in the state and even 100 per cent Chil was planted in unsuitable areas. They suggested that careful and judicious mixture of Chil and suitable broad-leafed species should be planted to avoid forest fires. They further suggested that in depressions and along the nullahs where the soil was good with high moisture content broad-leafed species should be planted so that this strip could act as fire protection line and would minimise fire hazard. |
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Thirsty
residents turn to PM for funds Mandi, May 27 The Citizens Council and various political and social organisations have pleaded that the Uhl water would solve the drinking water shortage for the next 40 to 50 years. The IPH Department had prepared the project report during Mr Shanta Kumar’s tenure as the Chief Minister. Funds stood in the way of execution of the project. The attempts made to solve the chronic drinking water shortage over the past 30 years have not yielded the desired results. Discharge in six natural water sources, feeding the town, gets reduced upto 60 to 70 per cent in the summer. The lifting of the Beas water not only entails huge power bills but is also polluted. The first water augmentation scheme was implemented during the days of Dr Y.S. Parmar. Water used to be lifted to Motipur. Later Rs 2.56-crore project was taken up in 1984. It too proved inadequate after a few years. A Rs 9.41-crore project was approved on December 27, 2000 to cater to the requirements of the people up to the year 2017. Presently the gap between the demand and supply of water is about 50 per cent. The augmentation work has been held up for over a year due to non-allocation of funds at the crucial completion stage. A sum of Rs 6.91-crore has already been spent and most of the work has been accomplished. Had the state government sanctioned Rs 2.5 crore it would have been completed by now. The IPH Department has been directed to raise a loan of Rs 2.5 crore from HUDCO. Unfortunately the loan has not been sanctioned so far. Water tankers have been pressed into service. Mandi, the gateway to Kulu, is a halt for tourists to Manali, Lahul, Spiti, Leh and Ladakh. |
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‘Implement
provisions for disabled’ Solan, May 27 Ms Goyal was speaking at the annual summer camp of the organisation, being held this year at the scenic locale of Indira Holiday Home, a relic of the princely rule of the House of Patiala, near
Sadhupul, 25 km from here. She lamented that most of the government agencies ignored, for all practical purposes, important provisions of the Act like three per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions and easy accessibility to public utilities for the disabled persons. She urged upon the government to make government offices, schools, colleges, libraries and transport services like the railways and buses easily accessible to the physically-disabled persons who today numbered between seven to eight crore. She also demanded the abolition of import duties on gadgets designed to make the lives of physically-challenged person more comfortable and also raising of the income tax exemption limit from the present Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The secretary of the association, Mr Vipul Goyal, detailed the help rendered by the organisation to the deserving disabled person during the past year. He said plans had been drawn up for setting up a charitable disabled-friendly health resort in Himachal Pradesh. This resort would be equipped with the state of the art gadgetry and staffed by competent professionals for making the short way of the disabled persons and their attendants a delightful experience. Earlier, the Governor, Suraj Bhan, who presided over the meeting, lauded the association’s role in bringing some cheer in the lives of the handicapped. He offered to take up with the government agency concerned various grievances of the handicapped. He also announced a grant of Rs 11,000 from his discretionary fund to association and also released its brochure. |
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Police fires in air to disperse mob Shimla, May 27 The policemen resorted to firing after four of them were injured by the mob which pelted them with stones. Those injured were Assistant Sub-Inspector Brahm Dev, Head Constable Balak Ram, Constable Sunil Kumar and Constable Khushwant Singh. While the police claimed that only four rounds were fired, the residents maintained that more than dozen shots were fired. The policemen were manhandled and beaten up. As they tried to flee from the scene the protesters started pelting them with stones and bottles, causing injuries to four of them. The mob also targeted the building in which the policemen took shelter and caused extensive damage to it. Mr Sanjiv Pathania, the local Subdivisional Magistrate, and Mr Virender Kanwar, Additional Superintendent of Police, rushed to the spot with additional force to control the situation. When all the pleas of the officers to stop throwing stones failed, shots were fired in air. Mr Pradeep Kumar, Superintendent of Police, said that two separate cases of rioting and assaulting public servant while performing duty had been registered against Nirmal Singh, Raj Pal Rajinder, Kali Gagga, Bhola, Raju and others. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr P.C. Katoch, has directed the revenue authority to look into the land dispute, which was threatening peace in the colony. While Mr Chaman Singh, a freedom fighter, claimed that the land had been given to him by the government in 1968, those who wanted to build the Valmiki temple on it said it belonged to the municipal corporation. |
Railway
priority project fails to take off Parwanoo The project to extend the broad gauge railway line from Kalka to Parwanoo had generated a lot of interest among industrialists and residents of Parwanoo and Kalka. They had for a long time been demanding this link. Mr Nitish Kumar assured them at the stone-laying ceremony that the project would be given priority. The function was held about 4 years ago, but no work has been done on this “priority” project except putting up the board on the highway. The foundation stone at the site has started chipping off and the brick work has also been damaged. According to sources, the Railways have not earmarked any funds for this project even this year. One reason for the delay could be that there may have been second thoughts in the Railways about the utility of the project. There apparently is a section which thinks the project may not benefit passengers or industrialists. The residents of this area expressed the view that the project would benefit neither the masses nor industrialists of the area, and added that spending crores of rupees on the project would also not bring any gain to the Railways. The people of this area suggested that the government should instead extend the railway line from Kalka to Bharatgarh via
Barotiwala, Baddi and Nalagarh for the greater benefit of the people as well as the industrialists of the area. This would provide a link between Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and would foster the development of the area around it. The
Kalka-Bharatgarh railway line would also provide a shorter route to Jammu and Kashmir and will give employment to the youth of the area. The residents of Kamli village are also unhappy with the proposed project. They say they do not have surplus land to give for the extension of the railway line from Kalka to Parwanoo. The apple growers of the Shimla region say that it will not be convenient for them to send their produce to other states from the Parwanoo railway station as it will involve loading and unloading at various places and, thus, delay the movement. Apple, being a perishable commodity, the consignments will get spoiled due to the delay. |
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MC chief voted out of office Solan, May 27 Seven members in a house of 13 attended today’s meeting, constituting the required quorum. These were the Vice-President, Mr Kul Bhushan Gupta, Mr S.S.
Jhina, Mr Shamsher Singh, Mr Sunjay Awasthi, Ms Poonam Grover, Mr Harmesh Jaggi and Mr
Razia, alias Ratni. All seven voted in favour of the no-confidence motion resulting in the unseating of Ms
Sahni. They along with the lone HVC-supported member Roop Chand, a fortnight back had submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner expressing their dissatisfaction with a style of functioning. They had requested him to fix a date for the moving of the no-confidence motion against her. Roop Chand, however, chose to dissociate himself from the move and was not present in the House at the time of voting. In a surprise move, he along with four other municipal councillors — Vineet Goyal, Dr Ravi Kant Sood, Ms Vimla Garg and the deposed president Ms Shammi
Sahni, submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, seeking a date for moving a no-confidence motion against Council Vice-President, Kul Bhushan Gupta. The next
few days are likely to witness hectic lobbying with some horse-trading
not being ruled out. Ms Sahni is a veteran Congress person while the other four belong to the local MLA Dr Rajiv Bindal’s faction in the district BJP. |
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BJP men flout chief’s whip Una, May 27 Mr Pawan Thakur, a former Vice-Chairman of the Una Zila Parishad, organised the meeting which was attended among others by Mr Narendra Thakur, Thakur Des Raj, former state Minister, Mr Joginder Singh, former Sirmour unit president, Mr Kamal Nanda, Subhash Sharma Dhyan Chand and Garib Dass, all from Hamirpur district. Mr Pawan Thakur, who was expelled from the BJP for six years, alleged that those having no public support have been made party workers and office-bearers. |
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BJP decries charges against minister Shimla, May 27 Sensing that the outburst of his supporters against Dr Sushant, who was in the forefront of the last year’s revolt against Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, could lead to a major crisis in the party, Dr Rajiv Bindal, a BJP legislator and an arch rival of Mr
Sofat, has come out in support of the minister. He has refuted the allegations levelled by his own supporters against Dr Sushant and asserted that all talks of his “irresponsible behaviour” were baseless. He condemned the charges and said he himself remained with the minister throughout the day during his visit to Solan on May 24. The meeting held at the Deputy Commissioner’s office was attended by several office-bearers of the party, including Ms Kamal Sharma, chairperson of the Block Development Committee, and Mr Mohan Singh, president of the local party unit. He thanked the minister for regularising encroachment to help the poor. |
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College
a boon for Nurpur Nurpur, May 27 He said at a press conference that the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal was scheduled to visit in the area in the second week of next month to inaugurate the government college and lay the foundation stone for an additional college block. The modalities to take over the local Arya Girls College were being finalised within a week and admission to the next academic session would start on June 12 with commerce and arts faculties. Mr Pathania said during the Virbhadra regime two government colleges had been opened in the neighbouring Bhatiyat and Gangath Assembly segments, but educational interests of Nurpur were ignored merely on political grounds owing to the tussle in the Congress leadership. Mr Pathania alleged that during the Congress regime in the state a regional imbalance had been created. With the reorganisation of the districts, people would get a balanced administration. While staking claim for district status for Nurpur, Mr Pathania said this subdivision was the most deserving area. |
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3 pc grace marks for class XI students Dharamsala, May 27 Highly-placed sources in the board revealed that the pass percentage of students who appeared in the class XI examinations was quite dismal. This, coupled with the fact that the board was conducting the examinations of this class only for the second year, made it decide to give 3 per cent grace marks to all marginal students, the sources added. According to a rule, 1 per cent grace marks are generally given to the marginal students, revealed a board official. However, this year the board has liberally doled out an additional 2 per cent grace marks in order to bring some respectability in the pass percentage. The Secretary of board, Mr Vikas Labroo, however, refused to divulge any details. Asked if there was any precedent of providing grace marks to the students, he said, “Yes. Depending upon the situation, whenever the pass percentage of any class is dismal, the board has resorted to this. But to say that it is done every year will be wrong”, he added. |
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10,000
to take part in Cong rally Hamirpur, May 27 Mr Balak Ram Sharma, District Committee chief, said here today a meeting of the party was held here last evening in which it was decided to send 2,000 persons from all of each five Assembly constituencies to the rally. All Congresspersons would gather at Nadaun and march to the venue. |
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3 pilgrims
die as truck overturns Nurpur, May 27 According to the information the pilgrims were going to Baba Balak Nath temple to pay obeisance. Two seriously injured persons Tara Chand and Panchhi Lal were taken to the PGI Chandigarh. Their condition is stated to be critical. Other injured were hospitalised at Dharamsala. The deceased were identified as Baggo Devi (5), Meena (12) and Kaplo Devi. All were from Baldoon village of Nurpur. |
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Mohinder
Singh
floats party Shimla, May 27 Mr Mohinder Singh will be the convener of the Morcha. He also announced the state executive committee of the party. Mr Mohinder Singh demanded a CBI probe into the award of 1000 MW Karcham Wangtu hydel project to Jaiprakash Industries. He said in all other projects the state would get 12 per cent free power as royalty upto 15 years and 18 per cent for the remaining 25 years, but in this case only 12 percent free power would be available for the entire period of agreement. He demanded that the agreement for the project should be scrapped. |
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