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Thursday,
August 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Two attacked with swords on
Mall
Government ‘mishandling’ Tanda Flats coming up close to IAF
station |
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Tributes paid to
Rajiv Gandhi ‘Tainted’ SDM joins probe Agency to protect Dharamsala's green
cover Move to ban crushers in HP
opposed Humiliated by rape bid, woman ends
life Cop convicted of
rape Three stabbed as ragging turns ugly Zila parishad member booked Body of missing JNU
student found Boulder hits
truck, cleaner dead
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Two attacked with swords on
Mall Shimla, August 20 Both of them were seriously injured and rushed to Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital. It was a well-planned attack and the assailants, numbering about 15, did not allow anyone to come to the rescue of the victims until one of them collapsed on the ground. According to eyewitnesses, the youths who were carrying swords in bags came in groups and gave no time to the victims, who were also in a group of eight to 10 persons, to react. They attacked them repeatedly with swords and rods and vanished as swiftly as they had appeared. The assailants who were probably following them, struck when two Haryana policemen escorting them stopped for tea at a shop at some distance. Mr Sisodia told the police that he was attacked by the henchmen of Mr Amarjit Bawa, president of the state unit of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), and alleged that one of his sons and a nephew were among the assailants. He said he was not surprised over the attack as he had been on the hitlist of Mr Bawa ever since he started a campaign to expose his misdeeds. He said the Haryana police had given him security in view of the threat to his life. Mr Bawa had met the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr S.R. Mardi, only an hour before the attack and requested him to provide security to him so that he could reach Kalka. Mr Mardi got in touch with the local Sadar police station and asked the in charge to depute someone for the purpose. The police managed to nab one of the accused, Sukhpreet Singh Bawa, nephew of Mr Bawa. He is being interrogated. The police has registered a case of attempt to murder under Section 307, IPC, after recording the statements of the victims. |
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Government ‘mishandling’ Tanda college’s affairs Shimla, August 20 In a statement issued here, he said the casual manner in which the case was being handled could be judged from the fact that the inspecting team of the MCI was not informed that the Centre had granted time for completion of the hospital up to 2006 and that a tender had been awarded for its construction. It was shocking that the Health Minister was trying to blame the MCI by stating that it did not go through the old records. He said it was the duty of the government to keep the council informed about the progress made in removing the objection raised by it. He said the objections regarding the hospital could have been settled on the spot had the officers concerned apprised the team about the time granted by the Centre for its completion, besides giving other relevant information like sanctioning of a loan for it by Hudco and award of construction work. He said the previous BJP government managed to get more time through the intervention of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In contrast, the present state Health Minister, Mrs Chandresh Kumari, had not made any effort to meet even the Union Health Minister to resolve outstanding issues. Expressing surprise over the statement of Mrs Chandresh Kumari that the staff for Tanda college would be recruited directly and that there will be no transfers from the IGMC Hospital, Mr Nadda said the minister was perhaps not aware that the two institutions had a combined cadre. |
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Flats coming up close to IAF
station Solan, August 20 Owned by Delhi resident Mohit Gujral, son of famous artist Satish Gujral and nephew of former Prime Minister IK Gujral, the complex under construction comprises nine flats. Spread over four bighas, the construction of these flats was stayed by the High Court last year after the notification of the Works of Defence Act, 1903, in the cantonment. Officials revealed an active part was played by Mr Mohit Gujral in getting the notification lapsed. The notification had imposed a blanket ban on all construction activity within an aerial distance of 900 metres from the crest of the defence installation. Following this, the IAF authorities had moved the court to obtain a stay on this construction. It had pleaded that since this complex lay in close proximity of the defence installation, it could lead to an influx of outsiders to the area threatening security of the radar. This stay was, however, vacated by the High Court in June this year when the Ministry of Defence lapsed the notification. The plea of the defence authorities for not vacating the stay failed to cut ice with the court. The High Court observed that since the process of re-notification had not begun, it would not be proper to restrict the construction. Following this Mr Mohit Gujral hastened construction of the complex. Mr R.K. Kashyap, an engineer with Bhavika Constructions, nine flats would be completed within three months. A flat comprised three bedrooms, a drawing room, besides several other facilities. A flat cost around Rs 40-50 lakh. With the defence authorities having no immediate authority to check the construction, it might be too late before the Works of Defence Act is re-notified. Information gathered from the revenue authorities revealed that all nine flats had been booked by those based in Delhi. These included Mrs Nimi Bawa, Mrs Bhagwanti Singh, Ms Archana Talwar, Mrs Usha Kapoor, M/s Planet Kalash Fitness Private Limited, M/s Atish Enterprises Finance Limited and Mohit Gujral. It is learnt that permission for acquiring the property was cleared as per Section 118 of the Land Revenue Act. Though registration had been done but mutation of the property was yet to take place. The area comprised healthy pine trees which were being sacrificed to pave the way for the complex. Forest officials said they would send a forest officer to take stock of the situation. |
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Tributes paid to
Rajiv Gandhi Shimla, August 20 Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, ministers, the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, MLAs, the Mayor and prominent residents of the town paid floral tributes to the former Prime Minister at Sadbhavna Chowk, Chhotta Shimla, and later on at the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee office to mark the occasion. Mr Virbhadra Singh said people of the state would always remain indebted to the Nehru-Gandhi family members for their contribution to the development of the state. He said it was due to the vision and guidance of the Congress leadership that the state had emerged as a model hill state and topped in a number of human development indicators. The Chief Minister said Rajiv Gandhi had dreamt of a prosperous, strong and united India so that it could face the challenges of the 21st century effectively. He said the credit for bringing about a communication revolution and promoting information technology went to late Rajiv Gandhi who visualised well in advance that without developing these two vital sectors, the country could not march speedily into the 21st century. The Chief Minister also administered an oath of national integration to all those present on the occasion, including Mr Sat Mahajan, Rural Development Minister, Mr Brij Behari
Butail, Revenue Minister, Mr Raj Kishan Gaur, Agriculture Minister, Mr Vijay Singh
Mankotia, Tourism Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan, Animal and Husbandry Minister, and Mr Mukesh
Agnihotri, Chief Parliamentary Secretary. |
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‘Tainted’ SDM joins probe Solan, August 20 Mr Verma was posted here as the Regional Transport Officer during 2000-2001. During his tenure, he had allegedly issued receipts against payments received, mostly as fines, imposed on erring vehicle owners and drivers. The Vigilance Bureau, after conducting a probe registered cases against him on August 15. This was followed by simultaneous raids on his official residence and his house in his native Sobhan Majra village in Nalagarh subdivision of this district. The Vigilance seized some documents, including passbooks. Mr Verma has got an interim anticipatory bail until August 22, with the stipulation that he would join the investigations whenever required. |
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Agency to protect Dharamsala's green
cover Dharamsala, August 20 The minister underlined the role of forests in economic development and environment protection. He said efforts should be made to increase the forest cover and steps by the Forest Department in this direction had seen forest cover in the state increase. He said he was pained at the environmental degradation in Dharamsala and surrounding areas. He urged locals and NGOs to strive to save the Dhauladhars. The Himachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ms Chandresh Kumari, who presided over the function, urged the Forest Minister to adopt the Nagaland pattern to include locals in every afforestation scheme for more self-employment opportunities. The ministers also participated in a blood donation camp organised by the NSUI at RPG Medical College. Nearly 60 persons donated blood at the camp held to mark Rajiv Jayanti. |
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Move to ban crushers in HP
opposed Mandi, August 20 Talking to newspersons here today, the chairman of the council, Mr O.N. Hazri, lamented that the fear that crushers were causing dust and sound pollution was unfounded. He claimed that no pollution would be caused if the government ensured that every crusher used the latest anti-pollution techniques. He cautioned that closing down of the crushers would prove disastrous for the development of the state. At present, 350 stone crushers were catering to the needs of the execution of power projects, construction of buildings and bridges and tarring of roads. All ongoing works in the state would receive a big setback if such an “unwise and extreme” step was implemented. He said the stone crushers collected stones, after paying royalty to the government, from the rivers and converted them into various grades of crushed grit which was also being used in the construction of check dams and watershed projects. He said the hue and cry made by environmentalists and the media was misconceived and not based on ground realities. He said if such a decision was implemented, the development would come to a standstill, besides causing loss of revenue to the government and depriving thousands of people of employment generated by the crushers, he observed. |
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Humiliated by rape bid, woman ends
life Dharamsala, August 20 According to the complaint lodged by Mr Prakash Singh, husband of the deceased, on the night of August 17, when he was not at home, Subhash Singh from a neighbouring Dhan village entered his house and tried to rape his wife. Feeling humiliated at the attempt, she consumed poison and committed suicide yesterday. The police has registered a case under Section 451, 354 and 306 of the IPC against Subhash Singh but no arrest has been made as yet. |
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Cop convicted of
rape Sundernagar, August 20 It took nine years and about 100 hearings in different courts to fight this legal battle. Interestingly, the Mandi police had refused to register the case against the SHO. So the victim was left with no option but to file a private criminal complaint at her own cost. |
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Three stabbed as ragging turns ugly Dharamsala, August 20 According to police sources, a group of students was indulging in ragging which was objected to by other students. This led to a verbal duel but it turned violent when two brothers along with four others attacked Munish, Amit and Ajay Sharma with “khukri” and other sharp-edged weapons. The injured have been admitted to hospital in a serious condition. A case has been registered and the police is on the lookout for the accused who are reportedly at large. |
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Zila parishad member booked Nurpur, August 20 Ramesh Kalia, in a complaint to the police alleged that the accused attacked him last evening when he was sitting in a shop at Sadwan. He was dragged out and put in van but was rescued by the police. Earlier, the assailants had also thrashed a woman in the village over some dispute. |
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Body of missing JNU
student found Shimla, August 20 Guha’s body was spotted in the Pin valley three days ago by a foreign trekker who informed the subdivisional office at Kaza. A police party was sent to the valley which brought the body to Kaza last night from where it would be taken to Kulu to be handed over to the parents. —
PTI |
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Boulder hits
truck, cleaner dead Solan, August 20 The truck which was on its way to Shimla was hit by the boulder which had rolled down from the hill. |
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Tributes were paid to the late Rajiv Gandhi on his 59th birth anniversary here today.
Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, ministers, the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, MLAs, the Mayor and prominent residents of the town paid floral tributes to the former Prime Minister at Sadbhavna Chowk, Chhotta Shimla, and later on at the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee office to mark the occasion.
