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Thursday,
October 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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BJP warns party men of action Move to reserve Solan seat opposed Cong
finally inducts R.N. Sharma HP moots 448-cr
industrial plan Plan to improve power supply |
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Scientist submits fake data Sheetla Bridge opens to public Dera Beas hospital
functional at Bhota Order on grass
cutting stayed Tehsildar on duty
attacked 2 students hurt in clash, 7 held Scholars decry UGC decision Norah’s house opens to art lovers Who is
to blame for drug shortage? Complaints panel for women Give
bonus before Divali, says union One dead, 20 hurt as bus, truck collide Padma Shri
awardee dead Ex-AG of HP dead
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BJP warns party men of action Shimla, October 30 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Kohli, who is also the chairman of the party’s disciplinary committee, said the delimitation was a constitutional exercise being carried out by an independent commission over which the Centre or the state government did not have any control. As such it was patently wrong and unjust to accuse these of manipulating the whole exercise. He decried the attempts to politicise the issue by the Congress and some other parties. As far as the BJP was concerned it only wanted that the exercise was carried out as per the norms and reasonable time and opportunity was provided to the people to raise objections and make suggestions, he added. He said the persons unhappy with proposals circulated by the commission could represent their case before it. There was no harm in demanding deferment of the exercise but neither the centre nor the state government was competent to advice the commission on this issue. It was for the commission to decide whether the delimitation could be completed before the ensuing poll. Regarding the revolt in the party in Uttar Pradesh, he said efforts were on to defuse the crisis, however, if the issue could not be resolved the party would take action against the dissidents. Referring to the allotment of party ticket, he said it was a normal practice to change 25 to 30 per cent sitting legislators on the basis of the image and anti-incumbency factor against the individual concerned. Clean image and winning prospects would be the main criterion for the grant of party ticket. The BJP leader said Mrs Sonia Gandhi disappointed the people of the state by her lacklustre, vague and factually incorrect speech during the Mandi rally. While her charge that prices had increased was wrong as inflation had remained under control all the time and her reference to law and order situation was not relevant to the peaceful hill state at all. She did not elaborate on issues and made some generalised statements which were wide off the mark. Mr Kohli who was here to review the progress of membership drive said stress would also be laid on the quality while enrolling new members. The term of the existing members would expire on December 31 and all of them would have to seek fresh membership for 2003-08. He said the elections would be contested under the leadership of Mr Dhumal and the achievement of his government on the development front and political stability would be the main planks of the party. |
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Delimitation
panel meeting postponed Shimla, October 30 The decision came after six associate members, four Members of Parliament and two legislators, urged the commission to defer the meeting on the plea that they had not got enough time to study the working proposals. The BJP ministers and legislators from Kangra district, had been camping in New Delhi for the past two days and had held a meeting with Mr Justice Kuldeep Singh and Mr B.B. Tandon, Chairman and member, respectively, of the commission, and its associate members and pleaded that delimitation should not be carried out in haste when the election in the state was round the corner. The working proposals, as per which the Assembly constituency of Mr Shanta Kumar, Union Rural Development Minister and an arch rival of Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, was to be scrapped altogether and Rohru, the constituency of Mr Virbhadra Singh, Leader of the Opposition, was to be reserved for Scheduled Castes, had caused a political turmoil in the state with the affected leaders of the both the BJP and the Congress alleging that the whole exercise was being manipulated by the government. Although Shanta Kumar loyalists were the worst hit, several leaders of the Dhumal camp also joined the anti-delimitation campaign. The minister and legislators had a meeting with the four MPs and other association members over a dinner in New Delhi last night where the strategy was chalked out. The leaders also made it clear to the party that they could go to any extent and had given a call for Kangra bandh on November 7. They also planned to flood the commission with a spate of representations from the public and ensure that they were heard. This would automatically stretch the task of the commission beyond the elections due in February next. |
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Move to reserve Solan seat opposed Solan, October 30 Former Congress MP G.C. Totu, opposing the move, today demanded that the Solan seat, which was reserved till 1977, should be deleted from the list and one more reserved seat should be provided in the Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency. In a letter to the chairman of the commission, Justice Kuldeep Singh, Mr Totu has said that by reserving the Solan seat, a region will be created contiguous to the constituencies having Kasauli, Pachad and Renuka reserved seats. This he stated was in violation of the Rule 9(1) C of the Delimitation Act which clearly states that the constituencies in which seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes shall be in different parts of the state and located as far as practicable in those areas where the proportion of their population to the total is comparatively large. He alleged that the proposals of the working paper were politically motivated. Even the significant Rohru seat was erroneously put in the reserved category, he added.
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Cong finally
inducts R.N. Sharma Shimla, October 30 He hadn’t been admitted so far due to a factional fight in the state unit of the party. While the Stokes group was in favour of his re-entry into the party, the Virbhadra faction was opposed to it. According to party sources, the entry of Mr Sharma will pave the way for the return of several other leaders who deserted the party and joined the HVC on the eve of the last Assembly poll. The differences between the two factions had also stalled the move for a merger of the HVC with the parent party. Mr Virbhadra Singh, had relented and taken a stand that cases of individual leaders should be considered on merit. Mr Sharma had been contesting from the Kutlehar constituency. He quit the party during the 1998 Assembly poll when party ticket was given to Mr Mohinder Singh, staunch supporter of Mr Virbhadra Singh. |
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Union to oppose BJP in Assembly poll
Chamba, October 30 Revolting against the ruling BJP-led government in the state. Mr Thakur said the employees were not afraid of their transfers while fighting for their genuine demands.
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HP moots 448-cr
industrial plan Chamba, October 30 Disclosing this here today, Mr Kishori Lal, State Industries Minister, said a priority had been given to environment friendly industries and units using local raw material. As many as 3,119 small, medium and large scale industries at an investment of about Rs 500 crore had been set up in various parts of the state thereby generating 20,000 jobs. To attract more and more entrepreneurs to the state, tax holidays for new industrial units had been got extended up to March 2003 and efforts were afoot to get it extended further. Similarly, the transport subsidy had also been got extended from last year to March 2007, the minister said. Mr Kishori Lal said to facilitate the entrepreneurs in setting up units in the state, the concept of escort services for large and medium scale units had been introduced. The minister further said an Export Promotion Industrial Park had been set up at Baddi in Solan district at a cost of Rs 20 crore and a growth centre at Sansarpur Terrace in Una district at a cost of Rs 22 crore was being set up. To promote small industries, industrial area was being developed at Golthai under the Integrated Infrastructure Development Scheme at a cost of about Rs 5 crore. He said to ensure that the people get employment in the industries coming up in the state the maximum employment criteria of 50 per cent jobs to Himachalis had been increased to 65 per cent in the industrially development areas and 80 per cent in the industrially backward areas under the new industrial policy.
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Plan to improve power supply Mandi, October 30 He said his government had drawn up a plan to harness 10,000 MW of hydroelectric power during the next 10 years, which would usher in an era of prosperity. The Chief Minister was addressing a public meeting after inaugurating a 33-KV substation at Sandhol in Sarkaghat subdivision of the district, which has been completed at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. He said the substation would solve the low-voltage problem of the area. He said a Rs 78.50 crore project to improve the power supply system of the Mandi operation circle had been submitted to the Union Government under the Accelerated Power Development Programme. The scheme envisaged setting up of eight new 33-KV substation, at Awah Devi, Bhardwar, Thunag, Barot, Makreri, Rewalsar, Baggi, and Sauli Khud, he said. Besides, 400 new distribution substations will be constructed and the 93 existing ones augmented. In addition to this, 1,0000 km L.T. lines and 449 km HT lines would be laid. As many as 22,268 electricity poles will also be replaced under the project. The existing 66-KV substations at Bijni and Pandoh will be renovated. He said the work on Rs 7.81-crore Harsipatan bridge would be completed by March, 2004. This would connect Mandi and Kangra districts, he added. Mr Dhumal said drinking water supply schemes in the Dharampur area were being executed and added that a sun of Rs 9.02 crore had been spent on various drinking water supply and irrigation schemes while the augmentation work on 35.47 lakh Dharampur augmentation scheme was in progress. The Chief Minister disclosed that a proposal for the construction of a sports stadium at Dharampur had been sent to the Centre for approval and was likely to be cleared. He also announced hat a government degree college would be opened at Dharampur from the next academic session. Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated two bridges — the Sun Khud bridge at Barang and another on Masot Khud. Mr Mohinder Singh, MLA, and Mr Karam Vir Singh, Chairman, HP State Cooperative Bank, also spoke on the occasion.
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Norman
Lausch glides to top Dharamsala, October 30 The highlight of the championship was superb performance by two local lads Debu Chaudhary and Roshjan Lal Thakur who stood at 16th and 21st in the competition. In the amateur section, Bhagat Ram was declared winner while Santosh was second and Yog Raj third. In all 32 para-glider pilots, including 28 foreigners, participated in the professional category while 19 persons took part in the amateur category. In the tandem event, Chhering and Dinesh secured the first position and were closely followed by Ludar Chand and Ram Chand. Hot Ram and Tot Ram, were declared third. There were four events in both competitions but as rain had washed away the second day events, they were held on Monday and Tuesday. Dare devils of the Indian Air Force put up spectacular free diving show. The Pre World Para Gliding Competition was organised by the Tourism Department. The competition was supervised by the observors of International Para Gliding Association. The Secretary, Tourism, Himachal Pradesh, Mr Ashok Thakur gave away prizes.
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Scientist
submits fake data Dharamsala, October 30 Though the scientist had been submitting fake data for several years, his confidential reports have been excellent, facilitating his promotion. The matter came to light in August when the Associate Professor submitted a data about the maize field trials being conducted by him. The Head of the Department (HoD) was not convinced by the figures and asked him to recheck the data. The scientist, however, did not submit the data to the Head of Plant Breeding again, but tried to present it at a research meeting where his attempt was thwarted by the HoD. According to sources, there is discrepancy in the data submitted for the Past two years. The HoD then constituted a three-member committee in August to look into the matter and submit a report. The committee comprising two Professors and an Associate Professor, in its report indicted that the Associate Professor had submitted the data without actually working on it. Maize is the most important crop of Himachal and wrong advice by agriculture scientists can play havoc with farmers. The report was then forwarded to Dr R.S. Thakur, Director (Research) of the university. He acknowledged that such a complaint had been received from the Head of the Plant Breeding Department. He, however, refused to comment on the action taken but said the report had been submitted to the Vice-Chancellor. Dr Tej Partap, Vice-Chancellor, said today that he had taken serious view of the matter. He said to take strict action against the scientist, some administrative steps were being taken and soon the punishment would be made public.
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Sheetla
Bridge opens to public Chamba, October 30 The NHPC has constructed the bridge having a 226-metre span and 10.5 width at an estimated cost of about Rs 5 crore. The bridge will replace the existing crumbling old bridge. The work on the new bridge was completed within a targeted time of two years. As per the agreement, the bridge was handed over to the state government today by the NHPC. The Chief Minister on the occasion inaugurated a helpline service for distressed and suffering women of society. The helpline had being launched by the Yog Manav Trust, Banikhet, a spiritual society working for the welfare of humanity. Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated a building of Government Senior Secondary School at Bhanjraru, about 70 km from here. Addressing a public meeting at Bhanjraru, the Chief Minister announced the opening of a Government Degree College at Bhanjraru for the facility of students of the distant Chruah valley. The Chief Minister also addressed a public meeting at Chamba town late in the evening. Mr Kishori Lal, Himachal Industries Minister, and Mr Mohan Lal, state Ayurveda Minister, accompanied him.
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Dera Beas hospital
functional at Bhota Shimla: “state-of-the-art” medical facilities have become available to the people at their doorstep with a Rs 35 crore charitable hospital at Bhota in Hamirpur becoming functional last week. It is the first fully charitable health institution of the state, where medicines and even food will be given free of cost, besides medical treatment, Spread over 40 acres of land, the five-storeyed hospital offers specialised medical services in over 12 disciplines, including
ophthalmology, gynaecology, obstetrics, paediatrics, orthopaedics, ENT, and pathalogy. It has a well equipped ultra-modern labordary for carrying out various tests and diagnostic procedures. The hospital has been provided with facilities like an incinerator for the disposal of medical waste, a rain water harvesting system and own water supply by exploiting ground water. A scientific system for the cleaning and purification of rain water has been developed in consultation with experts. The multilayer filteration through different zones will not only enable to preserve clean water after the monsoon but also serve as a model for rain water harvesting. This is the third charitable hospital of the Radha-Soami Satsang after Dera Beas and Sikanderpur. The main hospital building covers 1.25 lakh sq ft of area. It also has a central shopping complex to cater to the daily needs of the residents. Seismic safeguards have been incorporated in the building keeping in view the fact that Hamirpur is prone to earthquakes. The hospital will have a staff of 250, besides sewadars who offer voluntary service. Baba Gurinder Singh said it was the element of “sewa” which made the health institution different from other hospitals. Every patient was treated like a VVIP. The outpatient department became function in June, 1999, and since then over 1.25 lakh patients had been treated in the hospital. As many as 200 apartments are being constructed for the staff. The hospital had been built at minimal costs. The best cost-saving part has been the in-house fabrication of precast building units like hollow blocks, bricks and cement ‘jaalis’. |
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Order on grass
cutting stayed Shimla, October 30 Petitioners had alleged that they had a right to cut grass from the taxy Ghasni as per a Wazib-ul-arz of 1916 under which the Ranas of the state acquired the land for widening the forest area. It was further averted that at the time of settlement in 1996 Ranas of princely state gave them right to cut grass by paying tax of six per bigha. It was alleged that vide order dated September 29, 1999, the state had withdrawn this concession and ordered the auction of the taxy Ghasni. The petitioners alleged that the order of the Forest Department was illegal and against Article 48 of the Constitution. They urged the court to direct the respondents to withdraw the order. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice W.A. Shishak and Mr Justice L.S. Panta issued a notice to Principal Secretary, Principal Chief Conservator and Forest Range Officer, Dhami, and directed them to file reply within four weeks. |
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Tehsildar
on duty
attacked Nahan, October 30 According to Mr Davender Singh Kanwar, Tehsildar, Paonta Sahib, illegal encroachers pelted stones and bricks on him. However, he was not hurt while two persons of the team received injuries. He said with the help of the police he had removed the illegal constructions made on the land owned by the temple. He said he had ordered 150 persons to vacate the land of the temple which had been encroached by them. The tehsildar is also the executive officer of the Dai Ji temple. The police has registered a case under Sections 147, 148, 149, 353, 332 and 186, IPC, against Mr Madhukar Dogri, Shiv Sena leader and member of the local municipal committee and eight other in this regard. On October 27 over 300 persons led by Madhukar Dogri has organised a protest march against the Tehsildar. They also burnt Tehsildar’s effigy and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister demanding the transfer of Tehsildar. The Tehsildar had alleged that most of the participants in the protest march were those who have been served notices to vacate the encroached land of the temple.
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2 students
hurt in clash, 7 held Dharamsala, October 30 The clash started after an altercation involving a girl. When some students objected to this, hostelers allegedly attacked them with khukris, iron and hockey sticks. Ankur Chandel received a head injury on being hit with a khukri. Another students, Gaurav Verma, was also injured. Both were admitted to Dr R.P. Government Medical College Hospital. Kangra SSP Sanjay Kundu and other senior officials rushed to the college campus and controlled the situation. The attacking hostelers were chased and chains, rods, khukri and hockey sticks seized from their possession. Later, the police also raided the hostel and seized some more sticks and rods. The police has arrested seven students and registered a case under Section 307 of the IPC against them. Mr Santosh Patial, ASP, said the arrested students included Ajay Kumar, Navin Pathania, Anil Guleria, Vishal Guleria and Sudhir Kumar, besides two others.
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Scholars
decry UGC decision Shimla, October 30 The association sought a clear-cut policy for NET/SET holders by giving them first preference while making appointments to the posts of university/college lecturer. Mr Anurag
Sankhyan, president of the NET/SET Scholars’ Association, said the state government was not implementing the UGC guidelines on higher education and 300 posts of college lecturer were vacant. He said for the past four years, not even a single appointment in the college lecturer cadre had been made. Instead, the state government was appointing ineligible candidates on the basis of PTA/contract and had even regularised the services of 42 ad hoc lecturers whose appointments had been made without the state public service commission. The association sought an increase in the grant for junior research fellowship and wanted the JRF grant to be given on time to the qualified scholars. Mr Sankhyan stressed that NET/SET was the only examination which had left thousands of scholars jobless.
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Norah’s house opens to art lovers Palampur, October 30 Mr S.S. Boparai, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said this while addressing a press conference here today after inaugurating a two-day theatre festival to commemorate the birth anniversary of Richards at Andretta, 12 km from here, last evening. The festival is being organised by the Punjabi University’s Department of Theatre and Television. Earlier, he dedicated the renovated house of Norah Richards to the lovers of theatre, art and culture. Elaborating his ideas he said Punjabi University would hold workshops, seminars and symposia to elicit scholastic opinions, besides organising traditional and prestigious cultural festivals. As the first step in this direction Mr Boparai said the university’s Department of Theatre and Television would hold a one-month workshop for college teachers of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh at Andretta in June, next year, by inviting experts from the NSD, Delhi, Patiala and
Andretta.
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Who is
to blame for drug shortage? Shimla, October 30 However, the Civil Supplies Corporation authorities say the companies had been told to supply medicines to the hospital. Hospital sources say the hospital administration did not anticipate in advance about the shortage of emergency medicines. Also, the hospital administration can buy medicines in times of emergency. |
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Complaints
panel for women Bilaspur, October 30 A notification issued here yesterday said that the committee was to observe the guidelines and norms laid down by the Supreme Court for preservation and enforcement of rights of women and to prevent their exploiation in such matters. The five members of the committee are Miss Kanchanmala (a retired principal) chairperson, Rampal Gautam (retired commandant C.R.P.F), R. K. Handa, advocate, president, District Bar Association, Mrs Raksha Sharma, advocate and Miss Rajrani, advocate all members. The committee will have its headquarters at Bilaspur town.
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Give bonus
before Divali, says union Shimla, October 30 Mr Chander Singh Mandyal, general secretary of the union, said the management had deprived daily wage earners of the bonus despite the interim orders passed by the Supreme Court in this regard. The employees would have to celebrate Divali without bonus for the fifth year, he said. He also condemned the reduction in the rate of interest on the GPF from 12 per cent to 9 per cent, the move to freeze dearness allowance and abolish the provision for commutation of pension. |
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One dead, 20 hurt as bus, truck collide Shimla, October 30 The victim was identified as Hem Raj, conductor of the truck. The bus was on its way from Bilaspur to Hamirpur.
UNI
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Padma Shri
awardee dead Solan, October 30 Born in 1916 to an illustrious family of Jalpaiguri (East Bengal), she exhibited exemplary courage in defying decadent social norms. She took to social work at an early age and joined the Women’s Artillery Corps soon after its formation in World War II. She saw action in France, Scotland and England. After Independence, Ms Dasgupta was posted as Deputy Director (NCC-Girls) in New Delhi. She became the Director-General and retired in the seventies. She was awarded Padma Shri in 1971 for her services to the NCC. |
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Ex-AG of HP dead
Shimla, October 30 His funeral will take place at his native village at Sarkaghat in Mandi district tomorrow. Lawyers of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and subordinate courts did not attend to their routine work as a mark of respect to the departed soul. Meanwhile, a former Shimla Municipal Corporation Councillor, Mr Baldev Singh, also died today after a prolonged illness.
PTI
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