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Friday,
December 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Sonia’s rally a flop show: minister Be wary of
Cong designs: Dhumal Padha to contest from Shahpur MLA misleading people: councillor CM to address kisan rally tomorrow |
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Bid to kidnap insurance official denied Forest Corpn suspends officer, 2 chowkidars Move on dumping site resented 2 die, two hurt in bridge collapse Himalayan fest concludes
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Sonia’s rally a flop show: minister Shimla, December 12 Mr Kishori Lal Vaidya, Industries Minister, said the much hyped Congress rally failed to attract a big gathering despite their efforts in this regard. In a statement issued here today, he said the poor response to the rally had proved that people were not likely to be swayed by false promises of the Congress and were completely satisfied with the performance of the Dhumal government. The minister said the venue of the rally was a stronghold of the party and was surrounded by Jubbal-Kotkhai, Theog, Kumarsain, Rohru and Rampur Assembly constituencies and the luckwarn response to the rally had exposed the sitting MLAs, who were the Congress stalwarts. He said unlike the Congress regime, the present government had undertaken developmental works not only in the areas from where the BJP candidates had won but had given priority even to those areas which were represented by the Opposition. He said people of the state had full faith in the present government which was bound to come back to power in the next elections to the Vidhan Sabha. He alleged that the Congress was a divided house and its top leaders failed to put up a joint front even before the Central Congress leadership at the rally. In fact, the warring factions chose it as a platform to show their strength. Mr Ganesh Dutt, state BJP spokesperson, said Ms Gandhi should review the anti-people policies of the Congress government in various states before criticising the BJP-led coalitions at the Centre and in the state. He said that a party which was supporting the most corrupt regime of Mr Laloo Yadav and Ms Rabri Devi in Bihar had no locus standi to accuse the BJP government of corruption. Not only that it had joined hands with the peoples Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir which was in favour of holding talks with militants. Regarding Ms Gandhi’s allegation that corruption was flourishing under the BJP rule, he said graft had been a Congress legacy. Mr Kuldeep Rathore, Congress spokesman, on the other hand maintained that it was the biggest ever rally in upper Shimla and the mood of people gave a clear indication that Congress was all set to wrest power from the BJP. He said the ruling party which could not dare to organise a rally of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, during his recent visit to the state, following the failure of the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to hold a rally at Vaknaghat, was trying to belittle the success of Ms Sonia Gandhi’s rally. |
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Be wary
of Cong designs: Dhumal Hamirpur, December 12 He said this while addressing a rally at Nadaun this evening. Earlier, he inaugurated a newly constructed building of the degree college at Bharmoti and a vegetable market at Nadaun. The college building has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1.30 crore and the vegetable market at a cost of Rs 40 lakh. Mr Dhumal blamed the Congress for lack of development in the state. The Chief Minister listed out the developmental activities undertaken by the BJP in the state in general and Hamirpur district in particular during his tenure of 57 months. The state unit BJP chief, Mr Jai Krishan said the Assembly elections would be contested under the leadership of Professor Dhumal and that the party would again form its government in the state. Mr Dhumal also inaugurated a newly constructed building of the Nikka Ram Jat Ayurvedic Centre at Jol Sapper in Hamirpur district last night. Mr Nikka Ram had donated a sum of Rs 5.50 lakh for the construction of the building under the Vikas Main Jan Sahyog programme. Mr Mohan Lal, Ayurveda Minister, and Mr Babu Ram Mandyal were also present on the occasion. Una: While addressing a public meeting at village Haroli, 16 km from here, on Wednesday Mr Dhumal alleged that the Congress which ruled the state for more than four decades was responsible for large-scale unemployment. He further said that AICC President, Ms Sonia Gandhi’s allegations against our government for increasing unemployment in the state, during her rally were baseless and wrong. The CM announced Rs 5.95 lakh for the Una Khad and Rs 15 lakh in Roda village for the construction of tubewells to overcome the shortage of drinking water there. He also announced Rs 8 lakh for the development of Dholmajra village. Earlier, he laid the foundation stone for the construction of a Block Development Complex in Santoshgarh constituency, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 25 lakh, inaugurated a veterinary hospital at Haroli constructed by Kandi Project at a cost of Rs 10 lakh, bridge at Palakwah on the Una-Jaijo Road at a cost of Rs 60 lakh and a Rest House at Haroli constructed at a cost of Rs 26 lakh. Mr Praveen Sharma, Excise and Taxation State Minister, Mr Ram Das Malangarh, Deputy Speaker and Mr Jai Krishan Sharma, MLA, Santoshgarh and state BJP President also spoke. |
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Padha to contest from Shahpur Dharamsala, December 12 Mr Padha, who was the general secretary of the Kangra BJP, was suspended after the Kangra bandh against his alleged derogatory remarks against the Chief Minister. He is a close associate of Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar, who, despite his suspension, agreed to address a rally organised by the suspended leader at Shahpur and praised Mr Kamal Padha for dedication to the party and people. Talking to mediapersons here yesterday, Mr Kamal Padha said he had been associated with the BJP since college days and it was insulting to be suspended from the party without being heard. He said there was a new trend in the Himachal BJP of “insulting” senior party leaders. In a frontal attack on the Chief Minister, Mr Padha said the Chief Minister was in the habit of taking decisions without going into the repercussions of such decisions. He said recently the Chief Minister had announced that the winter capital was being moved to Dharamsala, but later retracted his statement. He said such announcements and decisions were costing the state exchequer dear and Mr Dhumal should be held responsible for the same. Blaming the Dhumal government of misutilising funds provided by the Centre for development works, Mr Padha said the funds were not spent on works for which these were meant and people had been deprived of benefits. He said despite huge sums spent, targets had not been achieved. Mr Padha, who had floated “Kangra Bachao Manch”, said it was due to the efforts of the manch and senior BJP leaders that the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission had been deferred. He blamed HPCC President Vidya Stokes for harming the interests of Kangra by opposing the suggestions made by other members. He also criticised associate member MLA Babu Ram Mandyal for not supporting other members in their fight against injustice. He termed the statement of Congress General Secretary and Nagrota Bagwan legislator G.S. Bali against Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar as “uncalled for”. Mr Bali had alleged that the entire fight against the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission was to save the Baijnath seat for Mr Dulo Ram.
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MLA misleading people: councillor Solan, December 12 Addressing mediapersons today, Mr Awasthy stated that a number of projects initiated by the state government like the construction of a zonal hospital, sub-jail and an artificial lake at Sadupul had run into rough weather due to improper planning and scarcity of funds. He demanded a white paper on the money sanctioned for the Giri water scheme, which he asserted was planned during the Congress regime. Asserting that the BJP was shielding the corrupt, he stated that even after a lapse of more than four months no report had been submitted by the Health Department into cases of irregularities despite an assurance given by the Health Minister in July. He accused the local MLA, Dr Rajiv Bindal, of ignoring the interests of the locals.
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CM to address kisan rally tomorrow Nurpur, December 12 On the occasion, Mr
P.S. Grewal, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NFL will launch biotech fertilisers in north India being produced by the NFL with Japanese technique in Patna. The Chief Minister will distribute biotech fertiliser and Paral urea kits to 1,000 farmers of the area free of cost. An exhibition on beekeeping, mushroom farming, farming techniques and dairy farming is also being organised at the Mela. The Chief Minister will inaugurate Manjuee Khud bridge built at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore by Nabard and lay the foundation stones of Kisan Bhavan at Rehan and Nurpur Press Club at
Chogan. According to Mr Rakesh Pathania, local MLA and
Chairman,HPTDC, the Chief Minister will be accorded a rousing reception here as the pace of development in the Nurpur Assembly constituency had been accelerated under his leadership. |
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Bid to kidnap insurance official denied Dharamsala, December 12 The Additional SP Kangra, Mr Santosh Patil, said Mr Anup Dutta’s allegation that the police had refused to entertain his complaint was baseless as no substance was found in the investigations that followed. Giving details, Mr Patial said Mr Anup Dutta had alleged that he had entered into an agreement for purchasing 1,000 canal tea garden from Mr Mohaninder Singh of Patiala for Rs 70 lakh but the seller had not honoured the agreement and had infact sold the same to someone else. As the matter was of a legal nature, the police could not intervene. According to information available Mr Dutta had signed an agreement cancelling his claim and was now only trying to create a controversy for reasons best known to him. Mr Pakol also refuted the statement made by Mr Anup Dutta before mediapersons on Wednesday that police inaction was due to political pressure. |
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Meeting on dealing with geological hazards today Shimla, December 12 The objectives of the meeting would be to take stock of geological hazards, sharing existing knowledge and experience on mitigation measures being adopted by various organisations and their impact, forecasting of natural hazards in space and time, preparedness and planning strategy for future and role of people affected by hazards and NGOs in execution of mitigation measures. The keynote address will be delivered by Dr N.S. Birdi, Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. The participants will include planning-level personnel from different departments of the HPPWD, Housing Board, local bodies, district administration, Town and Country Planning, police and Home Guards. |
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Forest Corpn suspends officer, 2 chowkidars Nurpur, December 12 The Himachal Pradesh Forest Department had got permission to fell as many as 250 trees on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway from Jachh to Jonta in Nurpur subdivision. These trees had become major traffic bottlenecks. The department, after marking the trees, had asked the Forest Corporation to fell these. The Forest Corporation, Fatehpur, auctioned the work by inviting tenders. Intriguingly, the work was done by one of the influential employees working with the local unit of the corporation. The Forest Corporation authorities, before handing over the tree felling work to a party, measured the size of trees and their parts and earmarked the number of timber logs that had to be prepared. Following a tip off, the corporation conducted a preliminary investigation and found timber logs worth over Rs 2 lakh missing. Four corporation employees have been suspended. Sources said the connivance of employees of the Nurpur unit of the corporation was obvious and more employees were likely to be suspended. |
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Move on dumping site resented Hamirpur, December 12 The government is planning to move the court not only against the civic body in Hamirpur but also the civic bodies of Mandi, Shimla, Manali and Dealhousie, under the Water Act, the Air Act, the Environment Protection Act and the Indian Forest Act. The local body has failed to find a suitable dumping site in the township. The state government had sanctioned a sum of Rs 50 lakh for the disposal of town’s garbage under the garbage disposal scheme about three years ago. However, that money could not be utilised for want of a proper dumping site. The civic body had earlier been dumping the garbage in a forest area near hotel Hamir. But a restriction was imposed by the district administration following protests by the people of the nearby areas. The civic body later started dumping the garbage and other waste material on the Hamirpur-Sujanpur highway despite strong protests by the local people and the media. No senior officers were available for comments as they were on duty with the Chief Minister on tour in the district today.
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2 die, two hurt in bridge collapse Chamba, December 12 According to Mr N.D. Sharma, Additional Superintendent of Police, Chamba, the deceased had been identified as Amar Chand, resident of Ganoori village. He was a peon in the Veterinary Department. Vyas Dev, resident of Singi who was a labourer in the Forest Department in Chamba district, was the other person killed. The two injured have been admitted to the Zonal Hospital, Chamba. |
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Himalayan
fest concludes Dharamsala, December 12 Mr Kapoor said the Dalai Lama had given the message of peace and brotherhood to the world. The festival was presided over by the Minister of Finance and Health in the Tibetan government in exile, Mr Lobsang
Nyendak. |
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