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Saturday,
November 16, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Woman repeats charges against Virbhadra Permanent
abode eludes Karmapa Maintain
homes for destitute: Bhan Dhumal’s largesse to Sirmaur
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Markets closed in pilot’s memory Bus operators threaten to intensify stir SAS exams from December 16 PG medical courses approved
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Woman repeats charges against Virbhadra Shimla, November 15 She has repeated all allegations against the Congress leader in a letter to Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, and sought justice. She also apprehends danger to her own and her children’s lives and has asked for protection from the government. She said she had been receiving anonymous telephone calls threatening to murder her. She has also mentioned the name of a senior Congress leader who, she alleged, had more than once asked her to leave the state for good and warned her of dire consequences if she continued to involve Mr Virbhadra Singh in cases. Not only that, on certain occasions her son Aditya was picked up by some unidentified persons and beaten up. She said she was a small fry compared to Ms Shivani Bhatnagar and could be easily eliminated. Mr Dhumal confirmed having received the letter and said he had forwarded it to the Director-General of police for an inquiry. Mr Virbhadra Singh dismissed the charges as “rubbish” and said the issue had been adjudicated in the high court where he had filed a defamation suit against those who made these allegations on the basis of letters written by Mrs Bhagyawati. Those who had levelled the charges had tendered an unqualified apology to settle the issue. He said Mrs Bhagyawati had been used as a tool by his political rivals earlier and the same story was being repeated now. This time it was Mr Dhumal, who had been gunning for him, who appeared to be playing another trick. It was all part of a vilification campaign let loose by the Chief Minister against him, he added.
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Permanent
abode eludes Karmapa Dharamsala, November 15 The Karmapa, who was selected head of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhists, who have a large following in Tibet and India, has been facing serious challenges to his leadership of the sect from the very beginning. In the first instance, Shamar Rinpoche, one of the four regents entrusted with the responsibility of identifying the new incarnate, who controls the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, which is the seat of the Karmapa and is stated to be one of the richest monasteries, has not accepted Ogyen Trinlay Dorjee as the rightful head of the sect and has nominated his own spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu sect. The flight of the Karmapa from the Tsurphu monastery in Lhasa has also come under a cloud and is one of the reasons that the Indian Government still eyes the Karmapa with suspicion and is not agreeable to give him unrestricted freedom of movement as in the case of the Dalai Lama. Since his arrival in India three years ago, the Karmapa has been allowed to stay on the premises of Gyuto Tantric University near Sidhbari, about 6 km from here. The state government has provided adequate security cover to the 17th Karmapa but there are curbs on his visits. This may have cramped the style of the Karmapa who has not been able to visit either the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, the seat of his sect, or the Sherbling monastery near Baijnath where his teacher Tai Situ Rinpoche lives. In the recent past, the Karmapa had been requested by his followers to settle down either at Rawalsar at Mandi or at Kolkata. They had also suggested some other places where followers of the Karma Kagyu sect were in good number. The Karmapa was interested in settling at Rewalsar but absence of a suitable place there forced him to give up the idea. Similarly Kolkata and other stations were also not found suitable due to climatic reasons. He recently visited Jaipur also. As the Union Government, the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, the Himachal Government and the 17th Karmapa himself have not been able to select a permanent abode for the spiritual leader, it is causing problems. The biggest problem is the disruption of studies of the young Karmapa, who, according to his own statement, had fled Tibet to continue his studies in a free atmosphere. Due to reasons not disclosed, Tai Situ Rinpoche and some other senior lamas, entrusted with the responsibility of giving the Karmapa teachings in religion, lama dances and other subjects, have failed to adhere to any timetable. Of late, some senior lamas from Varanasi and Sikkim have been coming to the Gyutu monastery to teach the Karmapa but the arrangement cannot be termed as suitable. Followers of the Karma Kagyu sect feel that steps must be taken to ensure that the 17th Karmapa is provided a permanent abode and regular teachers are appointed. They feel that the Dalai Lama should take action in this regard as now the Karmapa is the seniormost religious guru outside the Chinese control and may be called to fulfil more responsibilities in future. A final decision about a permanent abode for the Karmapa rests with the Union Home Ministry which does not seem to be in a hurry to settle the issue.
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Maintain
homes for destitute: Bhan Shimla, November 15 Presiding over the annual general body meeting of the Himachal Pradesh State Council for Child Welfare here today, he called upon the council to ensure that the inmates of various homes for the destitute and handicapped children run by it were well looked after. He said besides basic amenities and other facilities, emotional comfort should also be provided to them. He stressed the need for more hostels for working women. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, who is the Chairman of the council, reiterated the government’s resolve for the welfare of the destitute children and other weaker sections of the society. He asked the council to publicise its schemes and programmes so that more people could benefit from them. He called upon the council to explore the possibility of restarting working women hostels at Nahan, Mandi and Chamba by inviting applications from interested working women. He said the government would consider grant of revised pay scale to the employees of the Child Welfare Council sympathetically. The general body approved the recruitment and promotion rules of various categories of employees of the council. It was decided in the meeting to create a post of warden on leave reserve at the state headquarters for effective maintenance and monitoring of various homes for the destitute. The general body gave its approval to the budget estimates of the council for the year 2002-2003. It was informed in the meeting that the inquiry report by the Director (Welfare) on the delay in setting up a “panjiree plant” would be submitted by the end of this month. Ms Prem Negi, general secretary of the council, detailed the welfare activities of the council. |
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Dhumal’s largesse to Sirmaur Renuka (Nahan), November 15 He announced Rs 1 crore for the construction of about 30 link roads and main roads in the district. He said middle schools would be opened at Hune Thalasu, Gyan Kot, Devka and Thana Kasoga while high schools would be set up at Sertandula, Timbi, Bhuria, Manpur Devda and Nehar Sewar. Senior secondary schools would be set up at Bakras, Shilanji, Lanacheta, Puruwala, Jamta and Kamrou. He also announced a special grant of Rs 5 lakh for the development of Renuka Lake. He said a degree college would be opened in the district during the current financial year for which the place was being finalised. He said Kala Amb Engineering College would be developed on the pattern of Regional Engineering College, Hamirpur. He also announced a Central Government aided drinking water supply project worth Rs 20 crore and electricity development project for the district. He said 5.5 lakh bighas of shamlat land had been returned to one lakh farmers of the district. The rest of the land was being transferred to its actual users, he added. |
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Markets
closed in pilot’s memory Kulu, November 15 Born in 1964 at Shamshi village, now part of the Bhuntar Nagar Panchayat in the district, Wing Commander Dogra did his schooling from Our lady of the Snows School here. He did his graduation from DAV College, Chandigarh. He was commissioned in the Indian Air Force in 1986. His brother-in-law, Pal, who is a forest officer here, said he was fascinated by flying since his childhood. Wing Commander Dogra had also participated in the Kargil war. He belonged to a family of soldiers as his grandfather, Khajan Singh, had served the British army. His father, Subedar Major Ram Singh, also served the Army. Wing Commander Dogra is survived by wife and two children. Mr Maheshwar Singh, Member of Parliament, and Mr Karan Singh, Minister of State for Primary Education and Environment, have expressed grief over his death. Mr Satya Prakash Thakur, a former minister and member of the AICC, has also expressed his sympathies with the bereaved family. Meanwhile, a two-minute silence was observed at an official meeting at Bachat Bhavan here as a mark of respect to the pilot. |
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Bus operators threaten to intensify stir Paonta Sahib, November 15 He said the union would observe a token strike by organising chakka jam in the state on November 25. If the demands were not accepted even after that then the union would observe a relay fast and chakka jam in all districts of the state on December 25. The Sirmaur Truck Operators Union, Tempo Union and the Taxi Union, Paonta Sahib, had supported the strike. In a press note, Mr Sharma, said the government had been making false promises for the past four years and issuing notifications which had resulted into financial crisis to the operators. |
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SAS exams from December 16 Shimla, November 15 He said on December 16 precises and draft, on December 17 advance accountancy and auditing, on December 18 industrial and commercial law and on December 19 accounts rules and advance procedure papers would be held. He further said interested candidates could submit their forms through the Chief Accounts Officer, H.P. State Electricity Board and the same should reach the office of the Secretary, H.P. Departmental Board, Fairlawn, before November 30. |
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PG medical courses approved Shimla, November 15 The council has also accorded recognition to the postgraduate courses in paediatrics and ENT introduced earlier in the college. Meanwhile, a team of the council will visit the college from November 25 to November 27 to inspect the facilities in connection with the proposal submitted by the college for increasing the number of seats in the MBBS course from 65 to 100. The seats were increased by the college from 65 to 105 in 1994 without the permission of the MCI. Since the college failed to provide the requisite staff and infrastructure, the council reduced the seats to 65 in 1997-98. |
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Youth lament lack of jobs
Shimla, November 15
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