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of BJP unity Shimla, February 18 While the BJP high command is keen on taking back the estranged partymen to bolster its electoral prospects, vested interests and petty prejudices of senior leaders are coming in the way of their homecoming. Sack Virbhadra, demands BJP
Dhumal, Chandel talk to dissidents
BJP objects to Sonia’s photo in ads
Crime against women high
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 Editorial:
A rape a day
Police still to get records of engineers’ selection
File compliance status, power board told
Holi Mela at Sujanpur
from March 4
Panel for fresh probe into man’s death
NHPC records Rs 510.5 cr profit
Over 300 taken ill after partaking langar
Daily wages to be raised
to Rs 75 One killed, 6 hurt
in mishap
Rifleman hurt in mishap
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Vested interests come in way of BJP unity
Shimla, February 18 Senior leaders in almost every district are adopting double standards on the issue. They are in favour of re-admitting their own supporters but opposing those belonging to the rival faction. The district units are also toeing the line of the dominant group as a result of which not much headway is being made. The tussle between Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal and Mr Shanta Kumar is also proving to be a bottleneck. The Shanta faction favours the return of all those who left the party or were expelled for any reason. However, the rival Dhumal faction is opposed to their entry and is more keen on bringing into party fold leaders of other parties like Mr Mohinder Singh, president of the Him Lok Tantrik Morcha. In fact, it is advocating merger of his party into the BJP. This is not surprising as Mr Mohinder Singh was sacked from the ministry after the Shanta loyalists raised a banner of revolt against Mr Dhumal. It is worth mentioning that the Shanta loyalists were at the receiving end as the Dhumal faction dominated the party and the government. A bigger problem is being faced in Hamirpur and Solan districts, which had been the centre of dissident activity over the past four years. In Hamirpur, the home district of Mr Dhumal, the party unit is against the entry of Mr Narinder Thakur, a son of BJP stalwart. Mr Jagdev Chand spearheaded the dissident activities under the “mitra milan” campaign. The entry of Mr Raghubir Singh and other leaders is also being opposed. Similar is the case in Solan where the Dhumal camp is against the entry of Mr Mohinder Sofat, the denial of party ticket to whom during the by-election to the Solan assembly seat sowed the seeds of dissidence in the party. Dr Rajiv Bindal, local MLA, is opposing him. On the other hand, the Shanta faction is not opposed to the re-induction of Mr Lakhwinder Rana, provided Mr Sofat is also taken back along with him. In Kulu, Mr Maheshwar Singh is not opposing the entry of Mr Gobind Thakur but Mr Chander Sain, the new party general secretary, has his reservations. In Kangra, which is dominated by the Shanta faction, the homecoming of leaders like Mr Kamal Padha will not be much of a problem, though a faction could oppose the re-entry of Mr Vidya Sagar. There are about two dozen such prominent leaders, out of whom as many as 18 even contested the Assembly poll against the official party candidates. The rank and file wants the party to follow a uniform policy and to take back the leaders in one go instead of allowing the factional pressures to drag and delay decision. The issue will be debated at the first meeting of the newly constituted state executive committee being held at Jwalamukhi on February 22.
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Sack Virbhadra, demands BJP
Shimla, February 18 In a statement here today, Mr Randhir Sharma, spokesperson for the party, said by asking Mr Dev Raj Sharma, Chairman of the commission, “either resign or face vigilance inquiry” the Chief Minister had held out a threat to a public servant which was a crime. Mr Sharma alleged that the Chief Minister was trying to frighten the Chairman and force him to resign so that he could appoint a pliant person in his place. The spokesperson said Mr Virbhadra Singh had not been able to come out of his feudal mindset and still considered his word to be the law. He had scant respect for the constitutional bodies like the service commission. He clarified that the BJP did not wish to protect anybody and wanted exemplary punishment for any- one guilty of irregularities, however, action should be taken following due process of law and not on the whims of political bosses. |
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Dhumal, Chandel talk to dissidents
Hamirpur, February 18 Nearly, 200 persons, including ex-servicemen were present at the meeting, held at the residence of Brigadier Lal Chand Jaswal (retd.). Reports reaching here say that the workers criticised former MLA of the area, Babu Ram Mandyal. They also submitted a memorandum to Prof Dhumal enlisting demands like revamping of the Nadaun BJP mandal, adequate representation to those were forced to leave the organisation before the last Assembly elections and denial of party ticket to Mr Mandyal. Prof Dhumal appealed to workers to forget the past and work unitedly for victory in elections. Suresh Chandel, also appealed to the party workers to work unitedly. |
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BJP objects to Sonia’s photo in ads
Shimla, February 18 In a statement here today, he said the state government could not use the photograph of Mrs Gandhi who held no official position and was merely the president of the ruling party. It was highly improper on the part of the government to do so. He said the developmental works for which the party was taking credit were, in fact, the achievements of the previous Dhumal government. By such misleading advertisements, the Congress government was trying to take credit which it did not deserve. It had not done anything worth while during its 11 months in office. |
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Crime against women high
Chandigarh, February 18 This is revealed in the Himachal Development Report brought out by the Chandigarh-based Centre for Rural and Industrial Development under the aegis of the Planning Commission of India. Among all districts, those ranking highest in terms of crime against women are Shimla, Kangra and Mandi. The study reports that women-headed households in the rural and urban areas are 220, 222, respectively, per 1,000 of population. Also, Kangra district has 42.28 per cent widows, the highest among all districts. The migration of men for jobs and widowhood are believed to be responsible for this situation. The report suggests the government should pay more attention to social security of women as also women-headed households and widows with no children. Another dark feature is female child labour when it comes to status of women. The incidence of girl child labour is eight times higher than in Kerala or Punjab. Consequently, the engagement of girl child in petty labour activities deprives her of schooling. As a result the dropout rate of girls from the primary to secondary levels is high. Though measures have been taken both by the Centre and the state government, for gender empowerment more needs to be done, particularly in respect of employment of women, who constitute 49 per cent of the work force. In fact, the number of men employed in gazetted posts are at least 10 times higher than women, who are employed at lower levels and come from middle or poor families. Of the total employed women, only 3 per cent are in gazetted positions and 97 per cent are in low government jobs. On the health aspect of women in Himachal Pradesh, the report mentions about the prevalence of anaemia among women in the 15-19 age bracket. In fact, 30 per cent of the women suffer from chronic energy deficiency. Though women make their own decisions, topography and lack of a health delivery system and infrastructure comes in the way of proper medicare when it comes to their healthcare. A majority of women deliver babies at home at the hands of ‘dais’. Himachal is facing several problems like a declining sex ratio. The overall fall was from 976 to 970 during 1991-2001. The decline in the sex ratio of children in the 0-6 age group should also make the government sit up, suggests the report. This ratio is down from 951 to 897, indicating a strong ‘“son preference”. Another area of concern should be female literacy and education. The gap between male and female literacy is 18 per cent. The female dropout rate is 31 per cent at the class I-V level, 28 per cent at the I- VII level and 43 per cent at the I-X level. Chamba, Kulu, Lahaul and Spiti and Sirmaur need special attention in this connection. This high school dropout rate is attributed to poverty at home, distance of school from home and girl child labour in rural areas. Despite incentives, this trend has not been checked effectively. Awareness about AIDS/HIV is low among women. Women are a victim of acute respiratory infections, acute diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, pneumonia and pulmonary tuberculosis, which claim several lives. |
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Police still to get records of engineers’ selection
Shimla, February 18 The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which conducted a preliminary inquiry on the basis of source reports regarding irregularities in selection, had approached the commission for records. However, the authorities concerned had maintained that it was a constitutional body and the matter would be decided in the meeting of the full commission. Subsequently, a meeting was held but the investigation agency has not been informed whether or not the records would be shown to it. Mr B.S. Thind, Additional Director-General of the CID, said the police was still awaiting the response of the commission and keeping in view the fact that it was a constitutional body it would give reasonable time before taking any further action in the matter. He said besides Mr Vinod Malik, member who had alleged irregularities in the selection, the police had recorded the statements of two other members of the four-member interview board. All of them had stated that the list of the candidates selected by the panel had been changed. He said prima facie the charge of irregularity was made out as three out of four members of the interview panel maintained that the list had been changed. A perusal of the records was necessary to corroborate the statements of the members. Some candidates had also complained that they were better qualified but were ignored. He hoped that the commission would convey its decision regarding the handing over of records soon. He said police was not barred from registering a criminal case straight away but it wanted to verify the facts from the records. It may be recalled that Mr Dev Raj Sharma, Chairman of the commission, had said the commission had nothing to hide but it would hand over the record only to an agency legally authorised to summon records. He had met the Governor twice and apprised him of the facts. |
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Shivratri celebrated with fervour
Shimla, February 18 This festival has since ages been celebrated with a great deal of enthusiasm at Mandi which echoed with the sound of
trumpets and drums in praise of Dev Karmunag, the traditional deity that came from the countryside to participate in the Shivratri festival. This deity along with other deities from various parts of the state reached Mandi yesterday. Dev Karmunag, Dev Dungadu, Dev Thatti, Manguial Devi, Banglamukhi Devi and Buddi Bharvi Bingal, all deities that were brought to Mandi yesterday, were given a traditional reception at the Raj Madhavji temple. A number of other deities reached today. This 350-year-old Shivratri fair at Mandi to be inaugurated, by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would commence from tomorrow and would last till February 25. Shivratri was also celebrated at Kangra where devotees thronged the historic Shiv Mandir situated on the banks of the Binwa. The festival was also celebrated at Shivbari, 30 km from Una. Devotees also paid
obeisance at the historic Tirloki Nath mandir at Kangra and at Kathgarh temple in Nurpur. In Shimla a large number of devotees thronged the 150-year-old Shiv Mandir, and other temples. In Chamba
numerous temples were illuminated and devotees defying rain paid obeisance at the mandirs. The Chief Minister inaugurated the five-day-long state-level traditional Baijnath Shivratri fair in Kangra district today. He also laid the foundation stone of a sarai near the subdivisional hospital at Baijnath. SUNERNAGAR:
Thousands of devotees performed puja at the ancient Shiva temple, here today. The temple was decorated and kirtan was organised. In spite of bad weather, a large number of devotees visited the temple. According to estimates nearly 15,000 devotees visited the temple. Similarly, thousands of devotees paid obeisance at Mamleshwar Mahadev at
Karsog. |
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File compliance status, power board told
Shimla, February 18 The commission passed the order after the scrutiny of the application filed by the board for the determination of power tariff for 2004-05. The commission had issued 21 directions to improve the functioning of the board out of which only four had been complied with. It held that the consumers had the right to know the fate of the directions, which were issued in pursuance of the milestones fixed in the last tariff order. It also took note of the fact that the state government had not filed petition for the determination of tariff for the power it received as royalty from various projects and supplied it to the board for sale and directed that it should be impleaded as a necessary party. In the last tariff order the tariff for such power was reckoned to be 70 paise per unit and on its basis the total subsidy given by the government to the board came to Rs 184 crore. The board has also been asked to file application for the determination of tariff for the bulk supply separately. |
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Holi Mela at Sujanpur
from March 4
Hamirpur, February 18 Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar said here yesterday that various committees for the smooth conduct of the mela had been formed. The SP, Hamirpur, would head the Sports Committee, whereas the ADM, Hamirpur, will be in-charge of the Cultural Committee. He said troupes from other parts of the state would give performances. |
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Panel for fresh probe into man’s death
Shimla, February 18 The police had come to the conclusion that he was under the influence of liquor and had died after a fall. However, his mother suspected it to be a case of murder and had made a representation to the commission in this regard. A team of the commission visited the scene and felt that the possibility of foul play could not be ruled out. Reinvestigation was necessary to clear the doubts. The commission which held its meeting yesterday underlined the need to post experienced police personnel, at least of the rank of inspector, in special cells created to deal with crime against women. |
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NHPC records Rs 510.5 cr profit
Dalhousie, February 18 NHPC Chief Executive Director S.K. Dodeja today said the corporation had, so far, registered profit of Rs 510.50 crore, the highest since the inception of the NHPC in 1975. Last year, the corporation registered sales turnover of Rs 1,324.90 crore and generated 986.71 million units (MUs) of energy. Mr Dodeja said the NHPC was dedicated to harnessing the country’s hydro power potential estimated at 150,000 MW. Nearly 18 per cent of the hydro power potential had been developed leading to optimum utilisation of natural resources. The 198 MW Baira-Suil hydroelectic project in Himachal was the first project commissioned by the NHPC in 1981 after it came into existence. |
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Over 300 taken ill after partaking langar
Una, February 18 According to Telu Ram, ex-gram panchayat of the village, many people had gone to Samadhi Giri, a religious place in the village, on Shivratri. After eating the langar, people started
vomiting and had loose motions. Meanwhile, villagers arranged vehicles for shifting the people to the District Hospital in Una. Mr Gurcharan Singh, CMO, Una, said that there was no case which seemed to be serious. In case of an emergency, patients would be referred to the PGI or Shimla, he added. |
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Daily
wages to be raised to Rs 75 Mandi, February 18 Addressing a public meeting at Sujao Piplu in Dharampur subdivision, he said the government was committed to safeguard the interest of daily wagers. He
said in Dharampur division, there were 774 workers against the
requirement of 200. The government had retrenched 1,858 persons
without infringing the labour laws. He alleged that the “mess” had
been created at the behest of a former PWD minister. An inquiry has
been ordered into the matter, he added. Addressing another public
meeting at Tihra in the sub-division after laying the foundation stone
of a Rs 7.92-crore lift water supply scheme, he assured people that
poll promise to bring the corrupt persons to book would be fulfilled. |
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One killed, 6 hurt
in mishap Mandi, February 18 Rup Singh (25) of Damsehar village of Balichowki (Mandi district) died on the spot. Injured persons also from the same village. People of the nearby area rescued the injured persons and removed them to the nearest Kulu Civil Hospital while the body was brought to Regional Hospital Mandi and handed over to relatives after a post-mortem examination. A case has been registered. |
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Rifleman hurt in mishap
Kumarhatti, February 18 He was rushed to Cantonment Hospital and later referred to Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir. A
case has been registered against the jeep driver. |
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