 |
|
Friday,
June 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Proposal to sign MoU on fiscal reforms Mufti govt not soft on terrorists: Azad
State gets new High Court building |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Services Selection Board ex-chief surrenders Chamera spillways complete
|
|
Proposal
to sign MoU on fiscal reforms Shimla, June 12 Stating this at a press conference, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that the signing of the MoU would enable the state to benefit from the incentives available under the fiscal reforms programme from the Centre. He said the government had already taken the decision to exclude the non-plan expenditure from the plan to rectify the earlier distortions. He flayed the BJP for criticising the government for the reduction of plan size and said the decision to exclude the non-plan expenditure was part of the fiscal reforms. This year Rs 836 crore had been taken out, and had this not been done, the plan size would have been Rs 2171 crore. He said still non-plan expenditure to the tune of Rs 185 crore pertaining to health and water was included in the plan. The fiscal correction would be completed next year by excluding this. The Chief Minister maintained that after the exclusion of the non-plan expenditure, more funds would be available for development. The entire amount reflected in the plan would be spent on development. Usually the large plan size could not be entirely funded out of our own resources and central transfers. This forced the state to borrow at a high cost from the market putting it under a debt about Rs 15000 crore. The total amount of the gross borrowings raised during the last five years came to about Rs 8493.00 crore. Such excessive borrowings at high rates of interest had created an unsustainable fiscal position. Resources got gradually shifted from real productive investment into payment for staff at high scales of pay, diverting valuable resources from the much-needed programmes of asset creation and providing benefits to the common man. He said the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance had appreciated the decision to transfer a substantial portion of the committed liabilities to non-plan. This would present a correct picture of non-plan liabilities of the state before the 12th Finance Commission, which had to make recommendations about meeting such liabilities. The step was the first in the process of fiscal correction to bring the state economy back on rails after years of fiscal mismanagement, he added. The state also proposed to sign an MoU with the Finance Ministry shortly, containing the medium-term fiscal targets for the coming five years. This would enable the state to benefit from the incentives available under the fiscal reforms programme from the Centre. The committed liabilities, which had been transferred to the non-plan, would continue to be funded under the recommendations of the Finance Commission. The government was preparing a detailed memorandum for the 12th Finance Commission in this regard. It was expected that these programmes, which were now being shifted to the non-plan, would be considered by it at the time of making recommendations. |
|
Mufti govt not soft on terrorists: Azad Shimla, June 12 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the USA had taken the world community for a ride by justifying the attack on Iraq on the plea that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction. Further, during the course of war it maintained that once the weapons were destroyed, it would withdraw from the scene and the rehabilitation work would be carried out under the supervision of the United Nations. However, no weapons of mass destruction were found, making it evident that the real motive of the attack was to control the oil fields, he alleged. Referring to the efforts being made by the NDA regime to resolve the Kashmir issue, Mr Azad said the frequency at which interlocutors for holding talks with various group were being changed left one wondering. Mr N.N. Vohra was the fourth interlocutor and his visits to the Kashmir valley and Jammu were to get acquainted with the ground realities. He was still to visit Ladakh and only after that he would be in a position to work towards finding a solution to the problem. Mr Azad disagreed that the Mufti government was soft on the terrorists. He said there was no let-up in the drive against terrorism. The healing touch was aimed to protect the innocent youth who had been caught in the crossfire between the security forces and the militants. He maintained that the impressive victory of the Congress in the Assembly election in Himachal would have a bearing on the poll in four states scheduled later this year. The people of the hill state had safeguarded the integrity of the country by stopping the communal BJP. He maintained that there was no rift in the state unit of the party and the impressive victory of the party in the tribal Assembly segments were a proof, of it. |
||
|
State gets new High Court building Shimla, June 12 “Ravenswood”, a landmark in the history of the Queen of Hills, first became the seat of justice in 1963 when the court of Chief Judicial Commissioner was set up for the Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh. The Centre extended the jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court to Himachal Pradesh from May 1,1967, when a circuit bench comprising Mr Justice S.K. Kapoor and Mr Justice Hardyal Hardy held a sitting in the complex for the first time. Built in 1850 Ravenswood was acquired by Mr O. Meara, a renowned dental surgeon. Subsequently, it passed through several hands during the British era, including Mr L. Lushington, Financial Secretary to the Government of India, Col Cecil Beadon, superintendent of hill states, Col R. Hone, head of the Irrigation Department, Sir Henry Brackenbury, military member of the council and finally by the Raja of Faridkot, who made some changes in the original structure. It was converted into a state circuit house by the Punjab Government after Independence. Himachal Pradesh was granted statehood in 1971 paving the way for establishment of its own High Court. “Ravenswood” then became the headquarters of the state High Court. Initially, it had a strength of three judges. Mr Justice M.H. Beg was the first Chief Justice and Mr Justice D.B. Lal and Mr Justice C.R. Thakur, were the other two judges. The court has since been headed by eminent jurists who have left a distinct mark of their personalities on its working. Justice R.S. Pathak, who remained the Chief Justice from March 1972 to February 1978, eventually became the Chief Justice of India. He also remained a judge of the International Court of Justice at Hague. Justice M.H. Beg, the first Chief Justice, also had the honour of heading the Supreme Court of India. Some others who adorned the office of Chief Justice like Justice N.M. Kalsiwal, Justice M.M. Srinivasan and Justice D. Raju were also elevated to the apex court. Despite being a small High Court, it has found a pride of place in the country. Even today two of its judges are heading the state High Courts. While Justice Bhawani Singh is at present the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Justice Devinder Gupta is heading the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The strength of judges has since increased to seven, including the Chief Justice. Interestingly, “Ravenswood” has been one of the rare buildings which was reconstructed without being gutted. Most of the other monumental structures of the British era have been over the years consumed by fire. The building has a total built-up area of 1.11 lakh sq feet, besides a parking area of 20,000 sq feet. It will have all modern facilities like a library, spacious bar rooms, eight courts along with chambers and a computer centre. The towering modern building also symbolises the transition from the traditional system to e-governance in the administration of justice. The High Court authorities plan to make e-courts functional in due course. Instead of the bulky law journals, the judges and the advocates will use computers for reference, once the basic infrastructure for e-governance is put in place. Other facilities like video conferencing will also be made available. The High Court has sent two projects to the government for a switchover to e-courts in the state. A Rs 84-lakh scheme for creating the required infrastructure has been formulated for the High Court and another Rs 95 lakh scheme is for the subordinate court. The building will be inaugurated tomorrow. However, its foundation stone was laid almost a decade ago. But for the personal interest taken by Mr V.K. Gupta, Chief Justice, who took over only three months ago, it would not have been completed. Mr Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, Governor, will be the chief guest, while Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, will preside over the function. |
|
Services
Selection Board ex-chief surrenders Shimla, June 12 Mr Katwal had been granted anticipatory bail by the high court last month. The court had also asked the Enforcement Department to serve a 10-day notice on Mr Katwal for arresting him. While disposing his bail application the court had directed Mr Katwal to surrender before the Investigating Officer for custodial interrogation for three days. He was taken for the mandatory medical check-up before the interrogation. The department has registered two cases against him in connection with the irregularities committed in recruitment of Vidya Upasaks and trained graduate teachers. The premises of the board at Hamirpur were raided on the day the Virbhadra Singh government assumed office. The department not only recovered incriminating documents but also detected instances of overwriting and tampering answersheets to enable favoured candidates to get selected. There were also instances where the candidates who had secured higher marks in aggregate were rejected and those with lower marks selected. The investigating officers said Mr Katwal would be asked to explain circumstances which forced him tamper with the records. He would also be queried on the printing of question paper on the basis of the information supplied by the employees the Chandigarh based printing press where the question papers were printed. With the arrest of Mr Katwal investigation into the recruitment scam is likely to make a head way. |
|
Chamera
spillways complete Chamba, June 12 Mr Parminder Singh, General Manager of the Chamera project disclosed here today that the coffer dam had been removed which was raised for diverting the river waters through a tunnel for the purpose of constructing the concrete dam till the completion of concrete dam. Meanwhile, District Magistrate of Chamba Rahul Anand has cautioned the residents living in the villages located on fringe of the banks of the Ravi not to go to the river bed and not to take livestock for grazing along the river waters till the flow of the water becomes smooth. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Video
