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Tuesday,
November 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Gain ‘vishvas’
before yatra, Dhumal told Awaken masses to govt achievements: Dhumal HP
minister denies resignation Delimitation panel notifies
draft proposals |
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Rs. 8.7 cr relief for project oustees Pensioners’ body warns govt VC winner’s widow honoured Project to detect cancer patients 105 houses, shops gutted Chain
snatcher arrested
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Gain ‘vishvas’ before yatra, Dhumal told Shimla, November 18 Addressing a press conference here, he said Mr Dhumal’s ministers had not only revolted against him but also accused him of corruption, nepotism and irregularities in recruitment. Party men had rejected his leadership and intense dissident activities were continuing all over the state. He said all that had not deterred Mr Dhumal from embarking on a "vishvas yatra". He termed the resignation of Agriculture Minister Vidya Sagar a gimmick to regain the lost support. He said the minister had enjoyed power for five years and his resignation would not influence the electorate. The former Chief Minister came down heavily on Mr Dhumal for making a plethora of promises and announcements, which had serious financial implications. He criticised the delimitation exercise and said it was part of Mr Dhumal's political agenda to eliminate his political rivals by creating a situation where they might not be able to contest elections. However, he said the Chief Minister would not succeed in his motive. The Congress leader lambasted Mr Dhumal on the issue of corruption and said the Chief Minister not only himself indulged in graft but made it an integral part of governance by making the entire administration corrupt. He alleged that Mr Dhumal not only used tainted officers to fabricate false cases against him but also rewarded them with plum posts for the services rendered. Mr Virbhadra Singh claimed that the government had depicted wrong figures in the hoardings erected across the state to project its achievements and urged the Central Election Commission to order the removal of all such hoardings. |
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Awaken masses to govt achievements: Dhumal Mandi, November 18 He was addressing party workers of five constituencies of the district at Sundernagar and earlier another five at Mandi. He said the BJP government had laid the foundation of a prosperous Himachal by starting big, small and mini-micro hydel projects in the state through the state power board, private and corporate sectors. He said the 126-MW Larji hydel project in Mandi district was likely to be commissioned by 2003, ahead of the scheduled date. He added the commissioning of several hydel projects by 2003 with installed capacity of 2250 MW would be a major achievement in the power sector leading to economic viability. Himachal would get 12 per cent free of cost power of 250 MW yielding annual income of Rs 250 crore to the exchequer. Two units of Nathpa Jhakhri of 250 MW would be commissioned in December 2002. In March 2003, 1500 MW more power would be available from Nathpa Jhakhri. This would be followed by the completion of Baspa III and Chamera II each of 300 MW capacity. The Chief Minister said his government accorded priority to the laying of roads, healthcare and education, in the rural areas. He said Rs 68 crore was spent to lay roads and build bridges in the Mandi district alone under NABARD. He said work on Rs 6 crore Suketi Bridge in Mandi town was being speeded up. Also work on Rs 6.81 crore Harsi Pattan bridge on Beas was in progress. Mr Dhumal claimed that despite financial restraints the government provided employment to 65,000 persons in addition to tapping employment potential under centrally-sponsored schemes. Earlier addressing a news conference in the morning in the local Circuit House the Chief Minister said the government of Canada was keen on collaboration with Himachal in ventures like power generation, tourism and horticulture. He said the offer had been appreciated and certain projects in the state could be taken up as joint ventures with the government of Canada. He said the Upper Sutlej Valley Jal Vidyut Nigam had been constituted to expedite execution of projects on Sutlej. He said the projects on the river would increase the life of the projects by checking collection of silt. |
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HP
minister denies resignation Kangra, November 18 He was confident that the Chief Minister, Prof R.K. Dhumal, would accept his demands tomorrow during his visit to this town and sort out the issue. Standing by his demands, he claimed that the BJP and OBCs were on his side. Meanwhile, Kangra Zila Parishad chief and BJP leader Rattan Jagat Amba today demanded disciplinary action by the party against Vidya Sagar for reportedly resigning as Agriculture Minister in protest against the alleged discriminatory attitude of the Chief Minister towards his constituency and for not granting 27 per cent reservation to Other Backward Classes, as it had affected the party image. Mr Jagat Amba told this correspondent here that Mr Sagar had tried to weaken the party at a time when the elections were round the corner by criticising the Chief Minister. Former Congress MLA Daulat Choudhary told a press conference that Mr Sagar was raising the bogey of reservation for the OBC community as a stunt to catch votes in the forthcoming poll despite having ignored the demand for four and a half years. The political scenario here is heating up following the controversial resignation of the minister. |
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Delimitation panel notifies
draft proposals Shimla, November 18 The objections, claims and suggestions will be received by the commission up to December 2, 2002. Thereafter it will hold public hearings at three places in the state. The hearing for Hamirpur, Una, Chamba and Kangra districts will be held in Kangra on December 5, for Bilaspur, Kulu, Lahaul and Spiti and Mandi districts in Mandi on December and for Shimla, Solan Kinnaur 7 and Sirmaur districts in Shimla on December 9. As per the draft proposals there will be no change in the total number of Assembly constituencies which will remain at 68. However, the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates will be increased from 16 to 17 and accordingly the number of unreserved seats will come down from 49 to 48. The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes will be three as before. Similarly, the total number of parliamentary seats will continue to be four and the Shimla seat will be reserved for the Scheduled Castes. The number of seats in Kulu district is proposed to be increased from three to four on account of rise in population while the number of seats in Kangra district is proposed to be reduced from 16 to 15. In Shimla district, Rohru, the Assembly seat of Mr Virbhadra Singh, Leader of the Opposition, is to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes whereas Kusumpti, presently reserved, is to be made open. The Rampur seat will remain reserved as before. In the Solan district, the Solan seat is proposed to be reserved in addition to Kasauli. Thus, of the total five seats will be reserved for the Scheduled Castes. In Kangra district, the Thural seat is to be scrapped altogether, while the Baijnath seat is to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Pragpur seat is to be made open. The Gangath seat is to be renamed as Indora, Guler as Jawali, as Fatehpur, Rajgir as Panchrukhi and Thural as Sulah. There is no change in the status of reserved seats in other districts, though in all names of 17 seats are proposed to be changed. Paonta is to be renamed as Paonta Sahib, Kot Kehloor as Naina Devi, Geharwin as Jhandutta, Hamirpur as Sujanpur, Mewa as Bhoranj, Bamsen as Hamirpur, Nadaunta as Badsar, Santokhgarh as Haroli, Kutlehar as Bangana, Banikhet as Dalhousie and Chachiot as Siraj. The 17 seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes are Rampur, Rohru, Solan, Kasauli, Pachhad, Renuka, Jhandutta, Bhoranj, Gagret, Indora, Panchrukhi, Baijnath, Rajnagar, Anni, Karsog, Nachan and Balh. The three seats to be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes are the existing Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bharmour. In case of parliamentary constituencies, the Rampur Assembly segment, which at present falls in the Mandi seat, is to be made part of the Shimla, is proposed to be included in the Hamirpur seat and Jaswan excluded from it and made part of the Kangra seat to make up for the scrapped Thural Assembly segment. |
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Rs. 8.7 cr relief for project oustees Chamba, November 18 At press conference here this evening, the Rs 3 lakh each would be given to 192 affected families of the project stage-I and Rs 2.5 lakh each to 120 families of the stage-II. He said these families had been identified by the Rehabilitating Sub-Committee. He also stated Rs 65 crore had already been given as compensation to the ousted families falling in Dalhousie tehsil district due to the Ranjit Sagar Dam Project Thein dam). |
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Pensioners’ body warns govt Hamirpur, November 18 Mr Sharma claimed that no organisation other than his sangh authorised to take such decisions. He asked the Chief Minister not to adopt anti-pensioner stance as it would cost him dear in the forthcoming Assembly elections. Mr Sharma warned the pensioners against the activities of self-styled leaders and asked them to remain united under the banner of sangh. The pensioners’ leader claimed that the “adhikar gram yatra” started by the sangh had been a success. He said the ongoing agitation of the sangh would continue till all its demands were accepted. |
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VC winner’s widow honoured Bilaspur, November 18 Another award instituted by “Shabad Manch” in memory of former Vidhan Sabha Opposition leader of Bilaspur town Pandit Dina Nath Advocate was awarded to former President of the Bilaspur Nagar Parishad, late Tulsiram Tadu. It was received by his son Sunil Tadu. Ramesh Chandra Social Service Memorial Award was given to an NGO leader, late Purna Nand Madhukar. He was president of the state NGOs Federation. This award was received by Madhukar’s son Samir. Several others were also honoured. |
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Project to detect cancer patients Hamirpur, November 18 Addressing a meeting of panchayati raj
functionaries of Hamirpur district on health and family planning activities in the state, Mr Nadda said to provide basic medical facilities to the people, the state government had decided to fill 700 vacant posts of paramedical staff. |
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105 houses, shops gutted Shimla, November 18 The fire, noticed at 12.15 a.m., soon engulfed the wooden structures. By the time fire engines from Rekong Peo arrived most of the structures were reduced to ashes. The ITBP jawans fought the flames for over four hours along with local people to control the fire. In all, 577 persons of 58 families were rendered homeless. Reports reaching here said 90 per cent of the structures in village were destroyed. The district administration gave Rs 10,000 to each affected family as immediate relief. It also supplied 60 tents, 25 sleeping bags and 25 tarpaulins to them. Mr Munish Garg, Deputy Commissioner, said the cause of fire could not be ascertained and a case had been registered. |
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Chain
snatcher arrested Dharamsala, November 18 For the past about one month Dharamsala and its surrounding areas were being terrorised by a scooter-borne chain snatcher who had been snatching jewellery from them and fleeing. Yesterday when he attacked a Gurkha girl at Chilgarhi the brave girl resisted the attempt and fell down. But he was able to snatch the gold chain and flee. The girl noted his scooter registration number and informed the police. Immediately, it cordoned off the area and were able to catch the accused identified as Des Raj of Shilla Chowk near here. The chain was also recovered from him. |
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