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Wednesday,
December 11, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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HP accepts
demand of bus operators Postal
staff end relay fast Clarify stance, Cong leader asks BJP HVC to
contest 68 seats in HP Undertrial flees; jail
staff booked Amend Delimitation Act: minorities panel |
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Colourful
start to Himalayan Festival Influential
family in way of school Mishap
victims’ bodies found after 4 days Water plan approved
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HP accepts demand
of bus operators Shimla, December 10 Ms Rajender Bhattacharya, Chief Secretary, said the additional off days would be given even to those operators who clear their entire tax liabilities, including penal interest, within the financial year by the prescribed date. It was also decided to link the quantum of penalty with the delay and actual tax due. Penalty on the special road tax
(SRT) and token tax would henceforth be imposed at prescribed percentages per week of the amount due for delays up to 60 days, 61 to 180 days and 181 day onwards. A subcommittee, comprising Mr Kishori Lal
Vaidya, Industries Minister, Mr Kishan Kapur, Transport Minister, and Mr Praveen Sharma, Excise and Taxation Minister, had been constituted to consider other demands of the bus operators. The Cabinet noted the steps taken by the government since 1998 to alleviate the problems of private transporters. The SRT was reduced twice by up to 68 per cent since its imposition. As many as 224 kutcha routes were declared tax-free and 24 state highways notified as rural roads for the purpose of the
SRT. The reduction in the SRT worked out to nearly Rs 30 crore from the original rates notified in December, 1999. Token tax had also been retained at the same level as was applicable in the year 1992. The number of off days was increased from 33 to 46 in April, 2002, thereby giving a benefit of Rs 1.45 crore per annum. The Cabinet approved the proposal of the cooperative department for the launching of the an integrated co-operative development project in Mandi district at an estimated cost of Rs 9.96
crore. The National Cooperative Development Corporation will give a loan of Rs 7.06 crore and a subsidy of Rs 2.90 crore for the project. The Cabinet also approved the grant of postgraduation allowance to the medical officers. While officers having post graduate diploma would be given allowance equivalent to one increment at the minimum level of the pay scale and those having postgraduate degree would be allowed allowance equivalent to three increments at the minimum of the pay scale. It also approved the filling of 12 posts of Himachal Pradesh Forest Services Officer, 25 posts of Forest Ranger and 312 posts of Forest Guard in the Forest Department. |
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Postal staff end relay fast Shimla, December 10 A demonstration was organised outside the GPO, where union leaders criticised the government’s indifferent attitude towards the demands of the employees. The demands include the shelving of the proposal to amend the Indian Postal Act and filling of all vacant posts. The call for the relay fast was given by the All-India Postal Employees Union (Group C). HAMIRPUR: The two-day relay fast-cum-dharna by three leaders of the Department of Posts ended here on Tuesday evening. The dharna was staged in protest against the failure of the Union Communications Department to accept the long-pending demands of the employees of the department. A rally was also held here, during which leaders of postal employees criticised the Central Government for ignoring them. They warned the Central Government of an indefinite strike if their demands were not met shortly. They demanded the filling of vacant posts in the department, scrapping of the decision to abolish 3,760 posts of Class III employees and removal of anomalies while implementing the Fifty Pay Commission recommendations in this regards. |
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Clarify stance, Cong leader asks BJP Shimla, December 10 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the Kangra district unit of the BJP was accusing the associate members of the Delimitation Commission, HPCC chief, Vidya Stokes and deputy chief Harsh Mahajan of taking an anti-Kangra stance to enable Mr Shanta Kumar score over Mr Dhumal in the tussle for supremacy. The “Kangra bachao” campaign was also part of this strategy, he said adding that the delimitation had only been deferred and it would resume after the elections. He asked the BJP ministers of Kangra to clarify their stance on the scams in the Health Department and the PWD. The Chief Minister also owed an explanation to the people as the minister continued in the Cabinet even after levelling such serious charges, he said. The Congress leader said the BJP government had failed on all fronts. |
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HVC to contest 68 seats in HP Chamba, December 10 Talking to mediaperson here today, Mr Vijay Joshi, working President of the HVC, categorically stated that the HVC would contest all 68 Assembly seats in the ensuing Assembly poll in
Himachal Pradesh. He asserted that people in fact wanted an alternative to the BJP and the Congress in the state. Mr Joshi indicated that the doors of the HVC would remain open for like-minded partners to have an election alliance adding that talks in this connection were in progress to create an alliance with the leftists and Janta Dal (S). |
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Undertrial flees; jail
staff booked Una, December 10 On the orders of the Additional Sessions Judge, he was brought here on December, for facing trial in different courts on December 3 and December 7. He was to be sent back to the Kanda jail after attending the courts. Instead of sending him back to the Kanda jail, he was kept at the sub-jail here without informing the Superintendent of Jail or the police. According to information, at about 9 am today, the constable who had brought Amrish Rana from the Kanda jail to the sub-jail here, asked for his custody. On one pretext or the other, he was asked to wait. At 9.55 am, he was told that Amrish Rana was missing. The Una police was informed about the incident at 10 am. Ms Sukhwant Kaur Atwal, Superintendent of Police, Una, told this correspondent that the sub-jail staff had given different statements. Several police parties had been sent to search for him and nakas put up on all escape routes in Una district. She said the jail staff may have helped Amrish Rana flee. A case had been registered against the entire staff of the sub-jail on duty. |
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Amend Delimitation Act: minorities panel Shimla, December 10 Addressing a press conference, here today, Mr Rajeshwar Negi, president of the Parishad, said it was mainly because of the flaws in the Act and absence of any specific parameters for carrying delimitation that the exercise had to be deferred in the state. The decision of the government not to carry out delimitation as per the provisions of the Constitution and instead go in for partial readjustments under the Delimitation Act, 2002, had undermined the very spirit and objectives of the Constitution, thereby usurping the democratic rights of the electorate. The Act should be amended to pave way for a fresh delimitation exercise after the publication of the 2001 population census. The census figures be published within a period of three months and thereafter the delimitation process be simultaneously undertaken throughout the country and completed within two years. The cap on the increase in the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies be lifted as it was inconsistent with the constitutional provisions. Further, population alone should not be the sole criterian for delimitation — which otherwise would allow a handful of populous states to control Parliament and destiny of the entire country and be detrimental to the smaller states. Instead, parameters like strategic sensitivity, ethnic affinity and topographical requirements be incorporated in the Act, as they were of prime importance in determining the seats in areas like the North-East-Himalayan Island and the desert regions. The embargo on rotation of seats should also be removed, and the alternative refixing be dispensed with as the latter connotes the same meaning yet restricts the logical increase in the total number of seats, affecting the political right of the general categories. Besides, majority of
constituencies had been reserved since 1950, denying the general categories any representation, further depriving representation to the SC’s in other constituencies where there concentration was substantial. The process if implemented in its present form in the more volatile states like UP, Bihar, Tamil Nadu could engulf the entire country into a post-Mandal report-like social and political turbulence. |
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Colourful
start to Himalayan Festival Dharamsala, December 10 The festival is organised by the Indo-Tibetan Friendship Society in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Himachal Pradesh and the Central Tibetan Administration to commemorate the conferment of the Noble Peace Prize on the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama in 1985. The DIG, Northern Range, Mr K.C. Sadyal, was the chief guest on the occasion. He lay stress on the need for cordial relations between various ethnic groups and lauded the role of the Indo-Tibetan Friendship Society in creating harmonious ties between locals and the Tibetans. Landing the contributions of the Dalai Lama to world peace, Mr Sadyal
described him as the “tallest leader of our times”, who was trying to secure freedom for his people through a peaceful struggle. He said the international community had recognised the contributions of the Dalai Lama by conferring on him with Noble Peace Prize and it was a fine gesture on the part of the Indo-Tibetan Society to celebrate the event every year. A cultural extravaganza by artistes of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, schoolchildren and local artistes was breath-taking. The function has lost most of its glitter as the BJP has its own Indo-Tibetan Society and is not ready to extend facilities to this function. Lack of financial aid has been another handicap. |
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Influential
family in way of school Dharamsala, December 10 Gadhoral under the Menjha panchayat is inhabited by poor Gaddi families and those from backward communities. A primary school was opened there about a decade ago. As the village is isolated and surrounded by forest, villagers in April 2000, approached the district administration to allot more land to the school so that it could be upgraded to the middle level. The Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, vide letter dated August 1, 2001, ordered the transfer of 500 square metres of land in the name of the school. Though the land stands transferred, an influential family has occupied it and is cultivating the land. When the matter was reported to the local administration and the police, the family apologised and agreed to vacate the land. Despite the assurance, the family has once again cultivated the land, depriving children of a playground. The path leading to the school also stands occupied. The matter was brought to the notice of Revenue Minister Dr Rajan Sushant and Education minister I.D. Dhiman, but no action has been taken. The villagers led by former headmaster Jagat Ram have been knocking at the doors of the local administration but to no avail. This has so angered them, that they now plan to forcibly take possession of the land. |
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Mishap victims’ bodies found after 4 days
Shimla, December 10 The deceased were identified as driver-cum-owner Dilbagh Singh, Vasheesh Kumar, Arun Kumar, Jiwa Singh, all from Barang village, and A Kumar from Sapni village. The car fell from a height of 800 feet on December 6. The accident was noticed yesterday. Kalpa Divisional Magistrate Anupam Kashyap gave Rs 10,000 each to the next of kin of the deceased. Parliamentary Secretary Chet Ram Negi visited the bereaved families.
UNI |
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Water plan approved Solan, December 10 The scheme, slated to be commissioned in the next three years, is being funded by the Himachal Urban Development Corporation and will solve the water problem of the area. Capable of lifting 44 lakh gallons of water per day the scheme will enhance the existing availability of water to the area which presently stands at 10 lakh gallons per day from the Ashwini Khud. The scheme will be completed in three stages. The local MLA, Dr Rajeev Bindal, stating this here today lamented that former Congress governments had initiated no efforts to survey, plan or fund any water augmentation scheme for the area. |
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