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CM denies using state machinery HP signs MoU on hydroelectric projects Relax ban on constructions in green area, says MC Administrative Tribunal erred, says HC |
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Forum seeks 70 pc quota
in jobs Woman escapes kidnap bid Suspect confesses to Delhi
woman’s murder Trekker case: forensic report sent to MEA
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CM denies using state machinery for campaign Kangra, September 23 Mr Virbhadra Singh was talking to mediapersons this afternoon at the PWD Rest house at Lunj village while on way to Jawali on his two-day tour to the Guler constituency. He said electioneering was yet to start and allegations of the misuse of the official machinery was the figment of the imagination of the BJP leadership. He said he was carrying only his security persons with him and might reduce it further in days to come. When asked about the anti-party utterances of Mr Vijay Singh Mankotia, former Tourism Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh said, “It is not an issue which requires my comment”. He said his government would circulate and make public the signed documents of the MoU signed by the state government when Prof Dhumal was in power. He said the document was signed without bringing the state Assembly and even his Cabinet into confidence. He said the people would be apprised of the facts about the MoU which the Congress government implemented after removing the harsh conditions. The CM said his government had carried out developmental works in all regions without any religious, caste or region bias. He alleged that the BJP was banking its politics on dividing the state on regional, caste and on religion basis, which was most painful. He said if the BJP succeeded in dividing the people of this hill state on regional, language, caste and region basis, it would be disastrous for the state. He said Kangra had never suffered in development during the Congress rule but its development was hampered due to the infighting between former Union Minister Shanta Kumar and former Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal. He said the fight between the two BJP leaders even led to the expulsion of Mr Shanta Kumar from the Vajpayee’s Cabinet, which had affected the development of the state too. He said four ministers and four MLAs of the Dhumal government levelled charges against Prof Dhumal of ignoring the interests of Kangra and the merged areas. Earlier, addressing a well-attended public meeting at Lunj, the Chief Minister said the Congress had introduced a new educated youth as a candidate to fight an old contestant of the BJP who was defeated four times by his father Prof Chander Kumar earlier. Mr Virbhadra Singh charged Mr Dhumal of appointing 200 doctors from outside the state, which included Bihar, Punjab and M.P, who had links with the RSS. He said when the appointments were made at that point of time more than 200 doctors of Himachal Pradesh were waiting for appointments. He asked Mr Surender Kaku, MLA, Kangra, to arrange buses to take his electorate to Dr R.P. Govt. Medical College to show them the Rs 300-crore achievement of the Congress. Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, Mr. Mukesh Agnihotri, Health Minister, Mr Viplove Thakur, Mr Surender Kaku, MLA, Kangra, and other party leaders accompanied him. |
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BJP leader files papers Nurpur, September 23 Mr Rana, who is contesting the Guler Assembly byelection on the BJP ticket, was accompanied by former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, state BJP President Suresh Bhardwaj, state BJP General Secretary Chander Sen Thakur and a number of former ministers and sitting and former MLAs. The BJP workers brought Mr Rana to the SDM’s office in a procession. Addressing a well-attended poll meeting at Jawali, the state BJP leaders launched an offensive poll campaign against the Virbhadra Singh government, seeking votes for the BJP candidate on issues like rising prices, signing of the MoU with the Centre and the “anti- Kangra” attitude of the state government. |
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Cong discriminating against Kangra: BJP Shimla, September 23 In a statement issued here, he said the BJP candidate for the Guler byelection, Mr Harbans Rana, was getting overwhelming response from the public and the dropping of the three ministers from Kangra in the downsizing exercise had become a major issue. “Congress leaders have always played the card of regionalism against the BJP, whereas it is they themselves who have discriminated against the district in development and other areas,” he said. He added that the dropping of three ministers of Kangra had become a major headache for the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and his party. |
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HP signs MoU on hydroelectric projects Shimla, September 23 Mr J.P. Negi, Principal Secretary, power, signed the MoU on the behalf of the government in the presence of Mr Shamsher Singh, Chief Secretary, and other senior officers of the government and the State Electricity Board. The 100 MW Tidong-I hydroelectric project located in Kinnaur district has been assigned to M/s Nuziveedu Seeds, Hyderbad. Mr Prabhakar Rao, Managing Director of the company signed the MoU. The 70 MW Budhil Hydroelectric project in Chamba district will be implemented by M/s Lanco Green Power Ltd, Hyderabad. Mr D.V Rao, Director-cum-Chief Executive Officer signed the MoU for the company. Mr G. Bhaskara Rao, vice-chairman of Lanco group was also present. The 60 MW Sorang project in Kinnaur was assigned to M/s Himachal Sorang Power Pvt. Ltd. Mr N.N. Shetty, Director, signed the MoU. On completion, the three projects will generate 980 million units of energy annually at an estimated cost of Rs 1150 crores. The state will get 118 million units of power per year free of cost during the first 12 years and 176 million units per year during the next 28 years. This will fetch an annual income of about Rs 30 crores to the state during the first 12 years and Rs 45 crores over the next 28 years at the present tariff of Rs 2.50 per unit. It has also been specified in the MoUs that the developers will spend an amount equal to 0.25 per cent to 0.50 per cent of the project cost in the vicinity of the project area for the benefit of the local population. Mr Shamsher Singh, who is also the Chairman of the board, said the format of the MoU had been substantially modified to include various provisions for safeguarding the interests of the state, particularly those pertaining to direct and indirect employment to the local people. It had been ensured that the project developing companies, their contractors, and sub-contractors, would employ the local people. He further said another major improvement was that the projects would now revert back to the government after 40 years of the operation, free of cost, as against the earlier provision of the transfer of the project at the depreciated book value. The government had also increased the earnest money deposit from Rs 10 lakh to 40 lakh so as to ensure the
fulfillment of obligation of the MoU by the companies. |
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Relax ban on constructions in green area, says MC Shimla, September 23 In the objections and suggestions submitted by the MC to the Town and Country Planning Department, it has been requested that permission be granted to people owning 150 sq mts of land in the green area for selective construction activity. Following a complete ban on constructions in the green area, a large number of people have not been able to construct houses and pressure is being put on the government to make some relaxation in this regard. The Department of Town and Country Planning will hold a two-day meeting from tomorrow to discuss and consider the objections and suggestions, which had been invited before the finalisation of the Development Plan for the city, till the year 2021. The department has so far received about 85 objections from the Municipal Corporation, other government departments and individuals. After discussing the objections the department will submit the final document to the government for approval within the next three months. The MC, has further suggested that construction of two storied buildings should be allowed in the core area, which is the most congested. The MC has also suggested that the approval of building plans in the green area, the core area and the heritage zone must be given to them as all these fall within their limits. Another important proposal put forward by the MC is the shifting of the grain market,sabzi mandi and the coal and wood depots on the outskirts of the town so that the area around the Cart Road and the Lower Bazar can be decongested. The MC while recommending the construction of two townships of Bharari and Pavavo, has said town urgently needs sites at different places for garbage disposal and waste management. Another major suggestion that has been made by several people is the removal of encroachments along the Cart Road, so that space can be made available for creating more parking slots. The need for having another elevator between the Cart Road and the Mall has also been highlighted.
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Administrative Tribunal erred, says HC Shimla, September 23 The court observed that no daily wage worker was covered by the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act. The tribunal had dismissed the case of petitioner Atma Ram vide which he claimed that he may be brought on work charge establishment of the HPPWD Department. He had then challenged the decision at the High Court. The Bench comprising Chief Justice V.K. Gupta and Mr Justice M.R. Verma held that the tribunal had committed an error while dismissing the petition of the petitioner on the ground of jurisdiction.
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Forum seeks 70 pc quota
in jobs Shimla, September 23 Mr R.L. Justa, convener of the forum, said handing over the three major projects with the aggregate capacity of over 1200 MW, including the 400 MW Rampur project, to the nigam just to retain 776 employees of the state electricity board, who were on deputation, was not a good bargain. He said there was an urgent need to create avenues for the jobless whose number had crossed 12 lakh. He said the hydroelectric projects were the only hope for the educated unemployed and if the government failed to safeguard the interests of the state while assigning projects, their future would be jeopardised. |
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Woman escapes kidnap bid Hamirpur, September 23 Only Saturday last, the gang had tried to kidnap a boy of the local Him Academy Public School. The matter is still under investigation. Sandhya Devi told The Tribune that three persons, including a woman, pounced upon her and tied her hands, gagged her and forced her to move towards the main road. However, she had a scuffle with them and was able to remove the cloth from her mouth. In the meantime, her sister-in-law raised the alarm and
reached the spot. She said they rushed to their house and narrated the incident to her in-laws. In the meantime, a team of the Hamirpur police which was on patrol duty in the area got the information and reached the spot. The DSP, Hamirpur, Mr Madan Lal Grewal, told The Tribune that the police was verifying the report of the kidnap bid and a hunt had been launched to nab the culprits. Meanwhile, a large number of villagers gathered near the house of Sandhya Devi and demanded the arrest of the culprits. |
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Suspect confesses to Delhi woman’s murder Shimla, September 23 Police sources said 30-year-old Rajinder Singh, a taxi driver, during interrogation confessed that he had killed 36-year-old Harpreet, with whom he had an extra-marital relationship. A police team today left for Delhi to verify the facts disclosed by Rajinder Singh. He reportedly revealed to the police about another woman in his life, who was opposed to his relation with Harpreet. Police officials said the viscera had already been sent to the forensic science laboratory at Junga. It was on the morning of September 15 that Harpreet was found dead in a hotel room. |
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Trekker case: forensic report sent to MEA Shimla, September 23 The police and state government officials are still awaiting word from the Swedish Embassy about the arrival of Margot’s family for performing the last rites of the trekker, who died at Kangla Jot in Lahaul Spiti in 1981. “Since the Swedish Embassy had asked for these documents to be sure about the identity of the body found at the glacier, we have sent it across to Delhi,” said a police official. The Swedish Embassy had told the Himachal Police that since it would be rather difficult to take the body all the way to Stockholm, they were keen that the funeral took place here only. It is learnt that the Swedish Embassy officials had also made inquiries from the police if the facility of an electric crematorium was there in Shimla. |
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