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Sunday,
September 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Charges
framed against
Khanna’s
security intact, says Capt Power
purchase pact on Baspa quashed |
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Vigilance grills
varsity Director HC notice
to Chief Secretary Cong has
woken up to coalition politics: Shanta Centre
for mentally challenged children set up Evening
College closed down Woman
crushed to death
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Charges framed against Amarinder, Vora Shimla, September 6 Mr A.S. Jaswal, Chief Judicial Magistrate, overruled the objection raised by the counsel for the accused that the two leaders could not be tried together as they did not have any common intention. The judge observed that the accused should have approached the high court for seeking recalling of the summon order passed on February 15. As no application for the recall of order had been made, the court would go ahead with the trial. The material presented before the court was sufficient to frame charges against the two, the Judge said. The court exempted Capt Amarinder Singh, Mr Vora and Mr Dhumal from personal appearance. The next hearing has been fixed for November 22. Later, Capt Amarinder Singh told newsmen he was looking forward to the trial. He said Mr Dhumal had built assets mostly in Jalandhar and, as Chief Minister, he was in a position to get details of these properties. He said he could produce the evidence when required. |
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Khanna’s security
intact, says Capt Shimla, September 6 He told newsmen that the state had provided Mr Khanna with security not only at his residence in Gurdaspur but also in New Delhi. A permanent escort ensured his safety during his visits to the state. He said if Mr Khanna wanted his security to be beefed up further, the government would do so. He said the Bollywood actor perhaps didn’t know that it was the prerogative of the government of the day to perform all inaugurations. “A catering institute at Gurdaspur was sanctioned and built during the tenure of Ms Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, the local MP, but Mr Khanna inaugurated it after the change of government, he said. The Punjab CM said the cases against Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and Akali leaders could not be termed political vendetta as these were aimed at bringing to book those who had amassed wealth by misusing their official position. Captain Amarinder Singh said the number of unemployed in the state had crossed the 30-lakh mark, out of which, 40,000 were technical graduates. The government had approved a project to set up a technology park between Ropar and Chandigarh that would employ over 1 lakh persons. Regarding setting up of hydel projects in partnership with Himachal Pradesh, he said he had discussed the issue with his counterpart in Shimla, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and suggested that there could be partnership on reciprocal basis. PTI adds: He said he had served legal notice to Delhi BJP president Madan Lal Khurana, senior BJP leader V.K. Malhotra and Union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa for criminal defamation and asked them to tender a public apology within 14 days or face legal action. He said these leaders had alleged that he had not paid excise duty amounting to Rs 22 crore and he had been served a notice by the state Excise Department. “The order of the department was set aside by the tribunal and the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” he said. |
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Power purchase pact on Baspa quashed Shimla, September 6 The commission held that the company and the board had acted beyond their jurisdiction in utter disregard to the provisions of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act by signing the agreement. The approval of the supplementary agreement by the board was unsustainable in law and, thus, held inoperative. As per the Act determining the tariff for generation, supply and transmission and wheeling of electricity within the state was the mandate of the commission. Further, the preamble of the electricity Act being development of power, promotion of efficiency and protection of consumer interests, transparent policies regarding subsidies and rationalisation of tariff, it could not be said that promoting efficiency and economy fell outside the provisions of the Act. The supplementary PPA was a major alteration in the original PPA dated June 4,1997, wherein Article 8 (A) had been inserted, besides conferring a new right on the company over 12 per cent share of free power available to the government as royalty. Such an agreement could not have been entered without the approval of the commission. The commission directed the company to file the financial package within 15 days of its approval by the central electricity authority and explore the possibilities of reducing the interest cost through a suitable debt restructuring arrangement. It was directed to file an application for the determination of tariff within 15 days of approval of the financial package and the modified PPA, which ever was later. Meanwhile, the board would continue to pay the company revenue realised from the sale of energy from the project as per the interim order. The commission will review and monitor the progress made in the direction of debt restructuring on a monthly basis. The other PPAs were set aside on the grounds that they violated the provisions of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act and the Electricity Act 2003. It observed that it had reasons to believe that such contraventions were deliberate acts of mischief and needed to be condemned. It directed all IPPs to file the PPAs strictly in accordance with the draft guidelines and in conformity with the model PPA approved by the commission within four weeks. |
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Vigilance
grills varsity Director Shimla, September 6 Mr A.P. Siddiqui, SP and Mr Vinod Kumar, DSP, quizzed him over the hiring of the property of the son of Dr Suraj Bhan, a former Governor, at Panchkula without requirement. He was also questioned regarding the appointment made in the
ICDEOL, particularly for the three consultants. Dr Saraswat is the second senior functionary of the university who has been interrogated in connection with the case. Earlier, Dr Sharma was quizzed by the team regarding the printing of question papers. The Vigilance Department is on the lookout for Mr P.N. Bhardwaj, Deputy Registrar, who dealt with the setting and printing of the question
papers. |
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HC notice to Chief
Secretary Shimla, September 6 The government further stated that as soon as a suitable person was available the proposal would be referred to the Government of India. The matter has been listed for hearing on September 19. |
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Cong has woken up
to coalition politics: Shanta Nurpur, September 6 Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Mr Shanta Kumar said unlike the BJP, the Congress had understood the reality of coalition politics now and given its nod to it at the AICC’s Shimla meeting a few months ago. Commenting on the performance of the Virbhadra Singh government in the state, Mr Shanta Kumar said the Virbhadra government had done nothing so far for the welfare of the state as well as the people and alleged that the development in the state had come to a halt. |
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Centre
for mentally challenged children set up Shimla, September 6 A centre called Pehchaan is being run by parents in coordination with The Learning Centre (TLC) of the local Bishop Cotton School. The National Trust for the Welfare of the persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities, New Delhi, has come forward to support the centre. The centre has capacity to cater to the needs of 20 challenged children. The main objective of the centre is to provide day-care service and educational, entertainment and vocational facilities under one roof for overall development of children. Special educators have been recruited. Residential facility has also been provided in the centre for the children and parents who come from far-off places. Facilities of speech therapist and physiotherapist have also been planned in the centre. Earlier, there was no such centre in the town. The Inner-Wheel Mid-Shimla donated a wheel-chair to Pehchaan for the children having multiple disabilities. |
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Evening
College closed down Dharamsala, September 6 According to college sources, the government had taken a decision on August 30 to close down the college as the number of students was less and the cost of running the institution was high. The college has only 31 students in three classes and there are seven teachers and five non-teaching employees. The college authorities today handed over letters to students informing them that no classes would be held from Monday. They ABVP took out a procession, condemning the decision. |
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Woman crushed to
death Kangra, September 6 The Kangra district police chief, Mr S. Zahoor H. Zahdi, said Sawitri Devi, a resident of Ambari village, was crushed to death as she was walking. In another road accident, six passengers travelling by a private bus were injured when the driver lost control near Milwa village today. Driver Heera Singh has been arrested by the police. A 6-year-old child, Abheshiek, was injured in a road accident at Gadiyara when he was hit by a jeep. Abheshiek was rushed to the Dr R.P. Government Medical College Hospital at Dharamsala. |
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One held
for minor’s rape Hamirpur, September 6 Mr Sunder Lal, Additional District Police Chief said here yesterday that the girl was returning home from school, when Manoj Kumar raped her. The
girl reported the matter to her mother and also named the persons who
had assaulted her. Thereafter the matter was brought to the notice of
the police and a case was registered. |
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Talent
search exams delayed Solan, September 6 The NCERT which has made the SCERT its
nodal agency for conducting the NTSE in each state grants scholarships
to class X students. However, the SCERT does not have funds to even
get brochures printed. The NCERT had already published advertisements
in leading newspapers about the NTSE. |
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Dawa sworn
in as Chairman of selection board Shimla, September 6 Mrs Rajendra Bhattacharya, the Chief Secretary administered the oath. Mr Dawa was made a member of the board on February 3, 2003, and had been officiating as chairman since May 5, 2003. As a 1963 batch IPS officer, Mr Dawa had retired as Director-General of Homeguards and Civil Defence. |
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Villagers
oppose felling of trees Mandi, September 6 |
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Man drowned Kulu, September 6 The body of the deceased was retrieved today and handed over to his family. The deceased has been identified as Mohan Lal of Banora village in the Jagatsuk area of Manali.
— PTI |
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CM inaugurates
water scheme Nahan, September 6 He asked the farmers to grow off-season vegetables and fruits to improve their economic condition, assuring them of all government help. |
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HC to hold Lok Adalat soon Shimla, September 6 |
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Kokje turns
65 Shimla, September 6 |
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