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Thursday,
August 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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HP government files reply in Bragta blames apple growers’ woes on govt Heavy rain causes landslides in Himachal Appointment against rules, says Dhumal |
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Insurance firm directed to pay complainant Panel directs officials to remove anomalies Non-gazetted services union heads for split Manimahesh yatra begins Revision of electoral
rolls from Sept 1 Accept transfer orders, medical officers told Kokje writes to VC on irregularities 5 teachers to get State Award Vidyarthi Parishad
declares candidates Water policy may be formulated
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HP
government files reply in cow-killing case Shimla, August 27 It may be mentioned here that the high court had treated a letter by former Chief Minister Perm Kumar Dhumal as petition where in he had raised the issue of cow killings on the Chandigarh-Nahan road by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. A Division Bench, comprising Mr Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice Roshan Lal Khurana had directed the Chief Secretary Himachal Pradesh, the Chief Secretary of the Union Territory, Chandigarh, the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police, Sirmour, to file a reply by today. Mr Dhumal has averred in his letter that on July 26, 2003, some residents of the Ponta Sahib area had informed him about the incident. A truck of the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh was loaded with cows who were thrown from the truck. The truck was escorted by a Gypsy of the corporation and about 12 cows died on the spot. It was further averred that residents of the area had demanded a probe into the incident. |
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Bragta
blames apple growers’ woes on govt Shimla, August 27 Addressing a press conference here, he said despite a bumper crop, the government did not make timely arrangements for the transportation and marketing of the produce. Roads in the apple belt remained blocked due to landslides; there was an acute shortage of apple trays and other packaging material and even trucks were not available for the transportation of the produce. The collection centre for procurement of fruit under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) had been opened only on papers. So far only 2,300 tonnes of fruit had been procured under the MIS as against 8,500 tonnes during the same period last year. Consequently, the processing grade apple had found its way into the market, leading to a sharp decline in prices. He lamented that the government had failed to clear the outstanding dues of apple growers from whom fruit was procured last year to the tune of Rs 6 crore. Mr Bragta held the Delhi Government responsible for the continuing exploitation of apple growers at the Azadpur market.
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Heavy rain causes landslides in Himachal
Shimla, August 27 A report from Mandi said the Mandi-Manali national highway was blocked due to a landslide following rains near Pando village. The road was blocked today morning and had been partially cleared for passage of vehicular traffic. Another landslide occurred near Jhakri in the Rampur tehsil of the district blocking the National Highway No. 22 linking the tribal Kinnaur district with Shimla. The highway was later cleared in the afternoon. The National Highway No. 22 was also blocked due to a landslide near Nambhahar in the Chota Shimla region of the state capital. The highway was, however, later cleared after an hour. Another landslide blocked the Shimla-Annadale road which was also later cleared. An official report further said a landslide due to heavy rains in the capital swept away a tinned-roofed sub-office of the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Company (HRTC), besides damaging a roadside rain shelter and a kiosk in the New Shimla area of the capital. Meanwhile according to the weather office, Shimla recorded a rainfall of 82.2 mm in the past 24 hours. Sundernagar in Mandi district recorded 72.3 mm and Bhuntar in Kulu district recorded maximum of 33.9 mm rain. Snow in
Lahaul, Spiti The higher reaches of the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district received snowfall last night. According to reports reaching here today, the higher ranges overlooking Keylong, the headquarters town of the tribal district received mild snow around midnight. This led to a downfall in the day temperatures today. The lower areas of this district received rain in the night. However, there was no rain this morning though the weather was cloudy, official reports from Keylong said. CHANDIGARH:
The inflow from the Sutlej in the Gobind Sagar reservoir of Bhakra Dam on Wednesday rose to 40,950 cusecs and of the Beas in Pong Dam to 25,087 cusecs. The level in the two reservoirs had risen to 1,655 feet and 1,350.39 feet against their optimum levels of 1,680 and 1,390 feet, respectively. BBMB sources described the level as ‘’very satisfactory’’. The Nangal Dam area reported 66.3 mm of rainfall.
— Agencies |
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Appointment
against rules, says Dhumal Shimla, August 27 In a letter to the Governor, Mr Vishnu Sadashiv
Kokje, he has pointed out that the rules clearly state that the Secretary will be appointed by the Governor in consultation with the Speaker. This mandatory approval has not been taken in the present case. The appointment of a state administrative services officer as Secretary has been made in disregard of rules and propriety. He has alleged that the Virbhadra Singh government has been flouting constitutional provisions frequently.
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Insurance
firm directed to pay complainant Sundernagar, August 27 As per the complaint, Mr R.N. Kapoor of Mandi was a holder of Mediclaim policy for Rs 2 lakh for the past two years. The complainant suffered from suffocation and chest pain on July 2, 2001, while in Delhi. After check-up, the doctor advised him angiography and admitted him to Batra Hospital. He underwent bypass surgery on July 6. The complainant spent Rs 1,93,250 on medical expenditure and Rs 25,000 on boarding and lodging. The complainant was discharged on July 18. All relevant documents were submitted to the insurance company, but the claim was rejected by the company on December 13, 2002. The complainant had filed a complaint before the forum to award him the medical expenditure at the rate of 18 per cent from the date of rejection of the claim, along with Rs 50,000 as compensation and Rs 10,000 as costs. As per the version of the insurance company, the complainant was suffering from non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipid and was showing symptoms of positive TMT four years before his bypass surgery. The case was rejected after a detailed report of the surveyor, who had conducted investigations with the help of a doctor. As the complainant had concealed material facts from the insurance company regarding his ailment, the claim was rejected. The forum held that it was the duty to the insurance company to get the complainant checked at the time of purchase of policy, which had not been done. The court observed that the complainant had been purchasing the policies of Mediclaim prior to and after the bypass surgery and nowhere had any disease been disclosed, but no check-up had been conducted by the insurance company. The forum observed that the rejection of medical claim bills was wrongful and termed it as deficiency in service, as provided under Consumer Protection Act. The forum directed the insurance company to pay Rs 1,93,250 with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of rejection of claim, along with Rs 10,000 as compensatory damages. The order was passed on Monday. |
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Panel
directs officials to remove anomalies Hamirpur, August 27 The committee was pained to see that in many departments issues pinpointed by the previous committees had not been cleared and finalised. It stressed on the need to recover the outstanding loans from the defaulters and for this purpose the revenue earning departments should work in a time bound frame. Members of the committee also directed the Deputy Commissioner to enquire into the issue of money spent on the construction of a Central School at Nadaun. The committee observed that the work was undertaken without floating tenders and Rs 10.98 lakh was given to the contractor as against the work done by him. The committee, however, expressed satisfaction over the functioning of various government departments in the district. Dr
K.D. Lakhanpal, Additional District Magistrate, assured full co-operation for the proper upkeep of the accounts. |
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Non-gazetted services union heads for split Shimla, August 27 The two-year term of the office-bearers expired on June 27 last. However, Mr Ganga Singh, president of the federation, deferred election on the plea that the leaders had been victimised by the government and instead of going for election, the employees wage a battle unitedly to secure justice. Mr Machhan claimed that the elections of more than 80 per cent of the affiliated associations had been completed. He said the remaining units had been asked to complete the process by September 22, failing which they would not be able to participate in the election of the state office-bearers to be held on September 26 and 27. Mr Machhan said Mr Ganga Singh had lost the confidence and support of employees. He had convened a meeting of the federal committee at Kulu yesterday which was attended only by 14 out of over 150 members.
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Manimahesh
yatra begins Chamba, August 27 The pilgrims would start their return journey the same day. Sadhus of the Dashnam Akhada, local residents and district officers accompanied the “Chhari Mubarak” along with Home Guards and local bands. According to Mr Rahul Anand, Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, the “Chhari” of Manimahesh will halt at various places and reach Manimahesh Lake on September 3. The district administration has made adequate security arrangements for pilgrims, especially those coming from the Bhadarwah area of Jammu and Kashmir. He said the district authorities had been directed to make the necessary arrangements regarding regulation of traffic, parking lots, medicines, fuel, water and electricity for the devotees. He said langars would be allowed only on roadsides and in order to keep Manimahesh Lake clean, no langar would be allowed in the precincts of the lake. About 100 tents had been installed at Dhanchho and Goth, 50 temporary toilets had been constructed and 95 taps for drinking water had been installed. Besides, 45 langars by voluntary organisations had started functioning at different places for the pilgrims. The security arrangements on the borders of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh adjoining the terrorism-affected pockets of Jammu and Kashmir have been beefed up. The Superintendent of Police, Chamba, Mr Ajay Yadav, recently reviewed the situation on the border areas and directed the Indian Reserve Battalion, the Himachal Armed Police Battalion and the Indo-Tibet Border Police to be on their toes to combat any untoward incident. Meanwhile, the lone motorable 70-km road from the district headquarters to Hadsar in the tribal area of Bharmour has been blocked due to landslides at three or four places. The landslides were caused by heavy rain in the area since last night. According to official reports here, the district administration is doing its best to clear the road to facilitate the flow of pilgrims taking part in the “Chhari Mubarak”
yatra. |
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Revision of electoral rolls from Sept 1
Shimla, August 27 Any person who is a resident of a ward in any of these four urban local bodies and has attained the age of 18 years on or before September 1, 2003 will be eligible for registration as an elector, unless he is otherwise disqualified under the law. According to the programme, publication of draft roll will be on September 1, 2003, period for filing claims and objections will be September 2 to 11, period for deciding claims and objections will be from September 12 to 18 and period for filing appeals will be within three days from the date of order passed by the revising authority. The period for deciding appeals will be within a week of the date of filing appeal and final publication of electoral rolls will be on September 30. — PTI
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Accept
transfer orders, medical officers told Shimla, August 27 She said the government had recently sanctioned 100 posts of doctor and 181 staff nurse and process for filling up of these posts had since been started. The Health Minister said a monitoring committee would be set up at the Directorate-level for the purpose. Besides, each Deputy Director (Health Services) would be given two districts for the supervision of health programmes and institutions and he would be answerable to the Director of Health Services and the Secretary, Health. Mr P.C. Kapur, Secretary, Health, said vacant posts in far-flung areas would be filled in on a priority basis. Mr Dhruv Vashist, Director of Health Services, gave the detail of the departmental activities. |
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Kokje
writes to VC on irregularities Shimla, August 27 The Chief Minister said that Governor, V.S. Kokje, was also concerned at the state of affairs of university and keen on setting things right. He as Chancellor of the university had written a letter referring to various irregularities to the Vice-Chancellor and asked him to convene a special meeting of the executive council to consider all issues. He said irregularities like frequent withdrawal of secrecy funds, increase in printing cost of question papers mess-up in appointments and hiring of property outside without requirement were of serious nature which warranted a probe. He said, the government was committed to bring the guilty to the book. The investigating agency was competent to register an FIR and start investigation. Permission would be required only for prosecuting the accused, he
added.
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5 teachers to get State Award
Shimla, August 27 A spokesman for the Education Department said today that the selected teachers were Mr Diljit Singh, Headmaster, Government High School, Badoli, Una district; Mr Desh Raj, Lecturer, Government Senior Secondary School, Bharwein, Una district; Mr Desh Raj of Government High School, Kahlog, Kandaghat, Solan district; Mr Mathura Dass of Government High School, Mehra Maseet Garkota, Mandi district; and Mr Kishori Lal of Government Primary School, Gowag Tikker, Baijnath, Kangra district. The teachers would be given a cash award of Rs 25,000 each. The Governor will also honour them with a citation, shawl and a Himachali cap. The spokesman said the state government had decided to discontinue with the practice of giving a one-year extension to the state awardees because various teachers’ union had represented that this practice withheld their promotion. — PTI
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Vidyarthi
Parishad declares candidates
Nurpur, August 27 The ABVP leaders demanded the dissolution of the College’s Parents Teachers Association (PTA) which had been formed through the backdoor. They lamented that not even a single parent of the students had been included in the PTA and termed it the biggest-ever fraud in the college. The ABVP also warned that if the college administration did not dismiss the present PTA it would submit memorandum to the Chancellor of the H.P. University and State High Court. The ABVP has declared its panel today for the SCA elections, Mr Ashish Mahajan, Mr Nasib Rana, Mr Rajdeep and Ms Manta have been declared candidates for the posts of President, Vice-President, General Secretary and Joint Secretary, respectively.
— OC |
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Water policy may be formulated Solan, August 27 Thakur Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister,
said this while talking to mediapersons here today. The ownership,
presently with the blocks and panchayats, had become a contentious
issue. A scheme to test the water of traditional water bodies was
being finalised to ensure the availability of pure water to the
villagers. Expressing concern at the fact that a mere 7 per cent of
potable water was used for drinking purposes while the other was
wasted in domestic chores, he said the government was contemplating
making rain water harvesting compulsory for new buildings. To check
water shortage, another scheme had been launched, wherein handpumps
with 90 per cent government share and 10 per cent individual share
would be sunk, he said.
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