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Wednesday,
August 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Dhumal supports quota for Search on to find HP cop’s body Backward classes panel to be reconstituted HP Selection Board may be closed down |
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Despite HC orders crushing units violate norms Hindustan-Tibet road remains closed Council withholds nod to Tanda medical college Dispute over private land
on bypass settled Former sportsman quits politics Corruption issue dominates BSNL conference Dispute over private land on bypass settled Body of one more flood victim found
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Dhumal supports quota for upper castes Hamirpur, August 12 Talking with reporters at his native Samirpur village last night, Mr Dhumal said that time had come when benefits of reservation were also to be given to upper castes. He said that if this was not done, the rift between upper castes and lower castes would widen further. Mr Dhumal also supported the demand of the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani for holding of elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas simultaneously. He suggested that elections of the panchayati raj institutions should also be linked with the elections to the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas. The BJP leader said that the proposal put forward by Mr Advani needed debate and it should be adopted soon for brining radical changes in the Indian Parliament system. Mr Dhumal said that expenditure on elections in India which was just Rs. 1.75 crore in 1952 had risen to Rs 900 crore in 1999 elections and which showed how much money was being used for the elections every time. Talking about the comments made by Chief Election Commissioner about the proposal of Mr Advani, Mr Dhumal said that CEC should know his limits and should not comment unnecessarily. The BJP leader came down heavily on the Chief Minister and the state government for downgrading the sanctity of the HP State Subordinate Selection Board. He claimed that this board was set up as the previous Congress government had adopted a new way to give jobs to their own people through chits. In all, Mr Virbhadra Singh had given 2,912 persons jobs through chits. He said that his government had set up two committees and both had given their reports and had confirmed that jobs had been given on chits. However, the BJP didn’t sack any person as the main aim of the party was to give jobs. The former Chief Minister said that if the Congress continued to adopt anti-lower hill area stand, the BJP would also think over to shift the HP Public Service Commission office from Shimla to lower belt of the state, especially Hamirpur. He reiterated his resolve to shift the state capital from Shimla to a central place of the state. Shimla was becoming congested day by day and was not suitable to be the capital, he added. |
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Search on to find HP cop’s body Chamba, August 12 A high alert has also been sounded on the borders of the district along the J&K in the wake of this incident. According to reports, the security forces have reached the area of the incident. But since the actual site is more than 35 km from the road reachable on foot it may take more time to reach there. A constable Mohinder Raj of Himachal Pradesh Police was shot dead and a special police officer (SPO) Mr Dhiyan Singh was wounded in an encounter with some terrorists in Bujhladhar in the Bhalech area on the border of Jammu and Kashmir and Tissa border areas of the district in Himachal. On August 9, a police party consisting of six policemen — two Assistant Sub-Inspectors, one Head Constable, one constable and two special police officers from the Tissa Police Station along with six gujjars had gone to investigate a case of stealing of the cattle, crossing over the border through Mangli Indo-Tibet Border Police
(ITBP) outer checkpoint to Bhalech area. The police party had to face cross firing and was ambushed by the militants. But all of them returned safely despite a thick fog except constable Mohinder Raj and SPO Dhiyan Singh who reportedly lost the way on their return journey and were encountered by militants in dense forests. Constable Mohinder Raj was born in 1978 in Chaloli village near Dharwas in Pangi tribal subdivision of Chamba district. He was recruited to the Himachal Pradesh Police in 1998. He had recently joined at Tissa Police Station. He was the only son of his parents. Injured SPO Dhiyan Singh belongs to Dhanai Kothi village in Tissa sector. The police has also raised doubts about the alleged connivance of some gujjars. One of them had also been booked in the case. At present, out of 35 checkpoints set up on the borderline stretching for about 265 km, only 9 checkpoints are being handled by the ITBP. Lack of coordination between the ITBP and the Himachal Armed Police and the Indian Reserve Police battalions may have led to the encounters. The role of ITBP officials deployed at Mangli OCP is also under suspect and why they had failed to accompany the police team. The reasons about the lapse on part of security personnel deployed at Mangli to assist the police party were not known. The police party had requested the security officials at Manali OCP for help but they had reportedly refused on the plea of not having any such orders.
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Backward
classes panel to be reconstituted Shimla, August 12 The state Cabinet last week decided to amend the state backward commission order to pave the way for the removal of the members of the commission, who were appointed for a term of three years by the outgoing BJP government. Section 4(1) of the order, which lays down that the tenure of the members will be three years, has been changed to “at the pleasure of the government.” A notification to this effect was issued today. Mr Surinder Swaroop, president of the State Consumer forum, currently holds the charge as chairperson of the commission. There are three members, two of whom were office-bearers of the BJP. While Mr Ramesh Chaudhary headed the backward classes cell of the party, Dr Gulshan Kumar was the general secretary of the youth wing of the party. The third member, Mr Mohinder Lal, is a retired IAS officer.
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HP Selection Board may be closed down Hamirpur, August 12 This office was opened here in October 1998 and had provided jobs to about 7,000 persons of the state in various government departments. However, the working of the board had been under cloud right since its opening and the Congress government had got the board office and the residence of its former Chairman Surendra Mohan Katwal raided in March this year. Mr Katwal is facing two cases registered against him by the Enforcement Department for allegedly giving jobs through unfair means to candidates. The office of the board presents a deserted look these days, as the state government has assigned no work to it since the Enforcement Department raided the office. Only Mr Tashi Dawa, acting Chairman and Secretary of the board, performs routine duties with the help of the staff posted there. The decision of the state government to divest the board of the powers to recruit Class III employees has created uncertainty. Though most of the employees working in the office are tight-lipped on the issue, a few of them say that the state government has prepared grounds for its closure. Mr Dawa refused to say anything about the latest happenings on the board front. He said he had not yet received any new instructions from the state government. He had only read whatever had appeared in the Press, he added. Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal refused to comment on the issue when The Tribune contacted him yesterday. Meanwhile, highly placed sources told this reporter here that the state government was trying to close down the board office and shift other offices located at Hamirpur to the new campus of the board to provide them government accommodation. |
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Despite
HC orders crushing units violate norms Nurpur, August 12 The court, in a judgement on April 4 this year, had taken a serious note of the alleged violations of the norms by the stone crushing units. The petition had been filed as a PIL by a resident of Baijnath tehsil in the Kangra district. The court had directed the Himachal Pradesh Government to enforce the norms as the polluting units had endangered the fragile ecology of the state. The district magistrates was to ensure that illegal activities were not committed by these units. To enforce the high court’s directions, the state government constituted a committee with the SDM as the chairman and a geologist, a Divisional Forest Officer, executive engineers of the IPH and Public Works Departments, a SDO, pollution control board and an HPTDC employee as members. According to Dr Lath, the chairman of the committee, which inspected the units, the norms include setting up of a stone crushing unit 100 metres away from national highways, railway tracks, link roads and should be at least 1 km away from health and educational institutions. He said the committee had been empowered to recommend some relaxations in the norms keeping in view the public interest, and local environment and conditions. The committee had also asked the owners of the units to plant trees in the surrounding area. The units violating the norms will have to shift from their present locations, Dr Lath added. Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, has formed a three-member squad to conduct surprise checks on these units in the district. The members will be the DFO, DSP and the executive engineer IPH, Nurpur. They will conduct checks twice a month. The maximum number of stone crushing units in the Kangra district are in the border areas of the Nurpur subdivision. |
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Hindustan-Tibet road remains closed
Shimla, August 12 All-out efforts were being made to restore the bridge and the alternative to the old-Hindustan Tibet road, adequate stocks of foodgrains, essential commodities and petroleum products had been made available in the cut-off areas. Meanwhile three more bodies of Kangani Nullah flash-flood tragedy in Manali on August 7 were recovered yesterday from river bed near Manali. With this 31 bodies had so far been recovered and 10 bodies wee still missing. Shimla and its surrounding areas were lashed by heavy showers and the region remained engulfed in thick fog reducing the visibility considerably. JAMMU: The Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which was closed due to landslides following rain, was
re-opened today, police sources said here.
However, only passenger traffic would be allowed to ply today as a particular road stretch near Ramban was still being repaired, the sources said. Several vehicles were stranded at different places on the highway following landslides yesterday. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which maintains the 300-km highway, has pressed its men and machines into service to make the road traffic worthy.
— PTI
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Council
withholds nod to Tanda medical college Dharamsala, August 12 A three-member MCI team had visited the medical college in July to ascertain the facilities provided and efforts done to remove the old objections. According to sources, the visiting team had submitted its report in which it had showed its dissatisfaction over many arrangements . On the basis of the report, the Medical Council of India had now pointed out deficiencies and had asked the authorities to remove them before September 15, so that the team would again visit the college and submit a fresh report. The sources said some of the deficiencies
pointed out by the team related to accommodation meant for patients. The MCI report said that the space was less which had resulted in beds being too near to each other. The rooms were also ill ventilated and the incinerator meant to burn the hospital refuse was inoperative. Some other deficiencies had also been reported which led to withholding of extension of provisional recognition. Alarmed at the refusal of MCI to extend the recognition. Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ms Chandresh Kumari, had rushed to New Delhi and held a meeting with the Union Health Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj. She had appealed to her for grant of recognition. A high-level meeting of Medical Education officials was also held and the college Principal, Dr D.K. Ghosh, had been called to Shimla. When contacted the Officiating Principal , Dr M. L. Shar, confirmed that provisional recognition from the MCI had not been received and the college authorities had been asked to rectify some deficiencies by September 15th. He also confirmed that till MCI nod was not received, no admissions would be done though it would not have any effect on the ongoing classes as well as the first batch which passed out earlier this year and whose students were undergoing internship. But despite the claim by the Officiating Principal, the students selected for admission in Dr. R. P. Government Medical College Tanda were feeling jittery as they were not sure about their future. The college has 50 seats and students selected from IGMC at Shimla have already joined. The parents said that if MCI withheld the recognition later this year , their wards would have a bleak future. |
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Dispute
over private land on bypass settled Kumarhatti, August 12 Mr V.K. Bhardwaj, Executive Engineer, Solan division of the HPPWD, when contacted on the phone yesterday confirmed the settlement of the dispute. He, however, refused to entertain more questions on the bypass. Efforts to contact Mr N.K. Jindal, Superintending Engineer at Narkanda, failed as he was away in Rampur Bushahr. Sources in the department said that it would take nearly three months more to make the bypass functional as the construction work was in the final stage. |
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Former sportsman quits politics
Shimla, August 12 He joined the Himachal Vikas Congress of former Communication Minister Sukh Ram but switched over to the Shiv Sena and also remained in the National Congress Party for a brief period. He unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections in March 2003 and was disgusted with the present political set-up. He said he would devote his time to social service and would not associate with any political party. Mr Des Raj also led the Punjab Volleyball team and the Himachal Volleyball team. — PTI
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Corruption
issue dominates BSNL conference Mandi, August 12 Mr Rajendra Singh, Chief General Manager, HP Telecom Circle, admitted that corruption had assumed alarming proportions in the telecom circle. He stressed the need to “identify and root out” corrupt elements. Four delegates, members and officials of the BSNL from all parts of the state participated in the conference. Mr B.K. Kashyap, president, and Mr G.L. Jogi, general secretary, Central Headquarters, New Delhi, lamented that widespread corruption in the Himachal circle had tarnished the image of the BSNL and added that stringent measures should be taken to deal with corruption. |
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Dispute
over private land on bypass settled Kumarhatti, August 12 Mr V.K. Bhardwaj, Executive Engineer, Solan division of the HPPWD, when contacted on the phone yesterday confirmed the settlement of the dispute. He, however, refused to entertain more questions on the bypass. Efforts to contact Mr N.K. Jindal, Superintending Engineer at Narkanda, failed as he was away in Rampur Bushahr. Sources in the department said that it would take nearly three months more to make the bypass functional as the construction work was in the final stage.
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Body of one more flood victim found Dharamsala, August 12 |
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