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CID probing irregularity charges against panel Shimla, February 23 Two selected candidates for the post of Assistant Engineer have approached the high court with a prayer to summon the entire record of the selection process, so that the controversy regarding the alleged irregularities can be set at rest. BJP reinducts estranged leader Shimla, February 23 The process of return of estranged leaders back into the BJP fold began yesterday with the reinduction of Mr Bhagat Ram Chauhan, a Shanta Kumar loyalist, into the party here today. BJP to prepare charge sheet against Cong Shimla, February 23 The state unit of the BJP will soon come out with a ‘charge sheet’ against the Congress government to highlight the acts of omission and commission during its one year rule.
Removal of Sonia’s photos from |
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Election staff trained on voting machines
Probe ordered into jawan-villager
clash
Trout revived in Himachal
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Selected candidates move court
Shimla, February 23 Mr Ajay Sharma and Mr Bhushan Lal Sharma alleged in their petition that they were interviewed by the selection board constituted by the HP Public Service Commission for the post of Assistant Engineer (IPH). The result of the interview was declared on January 9 and the complaint regarding irregularities was made by the member on January 12-13. The petitioners pleaded that the Chief Minister had stated in the press that the recommendation made by the commission were not acceptable to the government. The commission refused to show the record to the CID and the Chief Minister asked the Chairman of the commission to step down. Rakesh Lohumi (TNS) adds: Meanwhile, according to sources, the CID wing is collecting documents concerning the irregularities to ascertain if there was a basis to the charges. Information is being dug out from the record of correspondence between the commission and various government departments. In some letters written by the Secretary of the commission to the Personnel Department last year, specific issues had been raised indicating that all was not well within the commission. He pointed out that against a vacant post of Deputy Secretary, a Registrar was promoted as Under Secretary in 2002 as a stopgap arrangement and other officers down the line were also promoted. Similarly, a Section Officer was promoted as Additional Registrar against the post of Assistant Controller of Examination for which no recruitment and promotion rules existed. Further, a Section Officer was promoted as Research Officer on an ad hoc basis for the past four years. There were no recruitment and promotion rules for this post too. In all these cases, rules were to be followed and relaxation with the concurrence of the department concerned was required. A senior state administrative service officer was posted as Deputy Secretary, however, his powers of drawing and disbursing, head of office and controller of vehicles were taken away and given to the Under Secretary who was looking after the secrecy branch. The Secretary had made it clear that if this practice was to continue, he should not be held responsible for any lapse. He pointed out that the chairman had insisted that all powers of the head of department had to be exercised by him. The Chairman, Mr Dev Raj Sharma, maintained that the previous secretary did not raise such issues with him. He had been strictly adhering to rules and had not taken any action in violation of the law. |
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BJP reinducts estranged
leader
Shimla, February 23 A former MLA, who had deserted the party during the 1998 Assembly elections after being denied, he was expelled from the party after he contested elections as an HVC candidate. Mr Tarsem Bharati, joint secretary of the HVC, also joined the BJP yesterday. Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, state BJP chief, announced the decisions to admit the two leaders into the party in the presence of Mr Arun Jaitley, Union Law Minister. The state executive of the party had only three days ago authorised Mr Bhardwaj and Mr Mohinder Pande, general secretary of the party, to decide such cases for readmission. |
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BJP to prepare charge sheet against
Cong
Shimla, February 23 The decision to prepare a ‘charge sheet’ was taken at the meeting of the state executive held at Jwalamukhi, on Friday. A five-member committee headed by Mr Chander Sain, general secretary, has been set up for the purpose. The other members are Mr Dulo Ram, Mr Jai Ram, Mr Ram Swaroop and Mr Kirpal Parmar, all vice-presidents. The party also passed two important resolutions, one on the political situation in the state and the other expressing gratitude for the liberal financial help given by the Vajpayee government to the state. The copies of which were released today. The resolution accused the government of betraying the unemployed youth who were promised jobs. Instead of taking steps to fulfil their promise, the government quashed the list of candidates recommended for appointment as trained graduate teachers by the subordinate services selection board and cancelled the entrance test for admission to the JBT course. In the appointments of para-teachers the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other categories have been denied reservation benefits. It charged the government with indulging in nepotism and favouritism and said jobs were being given to the relatives of the Congress leaders. On the other hand over 3,000 daily waged workers had been retrenched. While the workers were being thrown out of job on the plea that the government don’t have funds, lakhs of rupees were being spent on erecting hoardings and welcome gates to project the image of the party at the cost of the state exchequer. It expressed concern over the threat handed out by the Chief Minster to the chairperson of the state public service commission and said it reflected his feudal mentality. It urged the Governor to intervene and ensure that the dignity of the constitutional body was protected. It appreciated the contribution of the Prime Minster, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in accelerating the pace of development in the hill state. |
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Removal of Sonia’s photos from gates sought
Shimla, February 23 In a letter to the Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, he alleged that even after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha the state government was inserting advertisements carrying photographs of Mrs Gandhi, at public expense, although she had ceased to be the Leader of the Opposition. She was not even an MP now. So the use of her name and photograph was amounting to gross misuse of the public funds to promote party interests with an eye on the Lok Sabha poll. Mr Bhardwaj pointed out that even otherwise the office of the Leader of the Opposition was not a constitutional position and the name and photograph of Mrs Gandhi were being used just to gain political mileage. |
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Election staff trained on voting machines
Dharamsala, February 23 Kangra Deputy Commissioner Shrikant Baldi, who is also the returning officer for the Kangra Lok Sabha seat, and SDMs from Kangra, Chamba and Una districts participated. According to Mr A.P. Sharma, Additional General Manager of BEL, 10,000 EVMs will be used and BEL is not in a position to provide backup for maintenance. He said training had also been given at Shimla and Mandi. |
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Probe ordered into jawan-villager
clash
Chamba, February 23 The District Magistrate said the Tissa Tehsildar had been directed to probe the matter and submit a report. The clash took place between the jawans and the villagers during a religious congregation on Saturday, according to a delayed report received here today. The jawans were allegedly drunk and started misbehaving with girls. Following villagers’ intervention, they went back to their checkpoint, Chachool. However, after some time, they came back armed with weapons and beat up villagers. At least six persons, including jawans, were injured in the clash. FIRs have been lodged with the Tissa police station by both groups. Meanwhile, border residents, angered over this incident, have demanded the replacement of the ITBP with some other force. |
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Trout revived in Himachal
Dharamsala, February 23 Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Mahajan said that an ambitious project with the help of the Norwegian Government was launched at Patlikuhal to propagate rainbow trout, but due to viral disease the stock was destroyed. Fish in rivers and on private farms were also affected. He said with the help of experts from Norway, the disease had been controlled and fresh seed fish from Denmark and Norway had been introduced with success. |
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Sale of lottery tickets
banned
Shimla, February 23 While officers concerned refused to say anything on record, sources confirmed that no-objection certificates issued to the Bhutan and Arunanchal lotteries had been withdrawn. By evening, instructions had been issued to the district authorities to stop the sale of lottery tickets. Lottery stalls will not be allowed to sell the tickets from tomorrow. The previous BJP government had imposed a ban on the lotteries but the Congress had reversed the decision three months ago. Subsequently, the Lotteries Department initiated the tendering process for the award of contract for operating two-digit lottery for the state. While the process was still under way, no-objection certificates was issued to the lotteries of the two states. The decision of the government to allow the sale of lotteries of other states even before its own lottery could become operational, had attracted criticism. Sources pointed out that the lottery tickets of the states for which no-objection certificates had not been granted, were also being sold at the stalls. |
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Renu Chadda gets anticipatory bail
Shimla, February 23 The prosecution has alleged that the false claim of notification was that the government middle school, Nangli, had been upgraded. In fact, no such notification was ever issued by the Education Department. An FIR was lodged in this connection at Kheri (Chamba). |
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Schools in tribal areas to reopen
on March 2
Shimla, February 23 He said all teachers and students of middle, high and senior secondary schools in winter-closing schools of the tribal areas were requested to attend their schools from March 2 The primary schools would reopen on March 3.—
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