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Rift between CM, Stokes comes to fore
Fiscal reforms process gets under way
Move to oust MC chief
Tibetans seek release of freedom activist
Cong fact-finding panel visits Guler
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The BJP’s newly elected MLA, Mr Harbans Singh Rana (left), from the Guler seat, takes the oath in Shimla on Tuesday.
— Photo by Anil Dayal
Land pooling for providing serviced plots
Admissions to law course in order: VC
CPM’s youth federation to hold rally in Delhi today
“Star nite” cancelled
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Rift between CM, Stokes comes to fore
Shimla, November 2 While Mrs Stokes has convened a meeting at the party office here tomorrow to which all the ministers, MLAs, district presidents and office-bearers of frontal organisations have been invited, Mr Virbhadra Singh held a meeting of party men here today which was attended by some ministers and legislators, including Mrs Asha Kumari, Mr Kaul Singh, Mr Singhi Ram , and Mr Mukesh Agnihotri. Not only that, he has also fixed another meeting of workers from Bilaspur, Mandi, Hamirpur and Una districts tomorrow at Bilaspur to gear up the party machinery for the rally. The Chief Minister, who has gone to Kinnaur on a day’s visit, is reportedly flying to Bilaspur directly. Mrs Asha Kumari has left for Chamba and Mr Agnihotri is accompanying the Chief Minister. And as such these leaders will not be able to make it to the meeting convened by the PCC chief. Mrs Stokes when contacted said she was not aware of any meeting convened by Mr Virbhadra Singh here today or the one fixed at Bilaspur tomorrow. She said she expected all the senior leaders to attend the meeting to be held at the party office here tomorrow. She maintained that there were no differences and the Chief Minister would have taken the initiative on his own for the success of the rally. She said there was great enthusiasm among workers and the party expected a gathering of 40,000 to 50,000 people at the rally. She said everything, including design of the Congress Bhavan building and funds required for its construction, was ready for the foundation -stone laying ceremony. Mr Virbhadra Singh not only assigned various duties but also constituted a reception committee, decoration committee, transport committee and other panels for making arrangements. The MLAs of Shimla district have been asked to bring at least 25 busloads of people while those of other districts are expected to arrange at least 10 buses. The MLAs of far-flung districts like Chamba will be bringing at least five buses. The two factions are vying with each other to take credit for the rally and impress the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, by mobilising a record crowd . The factional war has intensified after the debacle in the Guler byelection with the Stokes camp and Virbhadra Singh camp blaming each other. The rally instead of uniting the warring groups seems to have widened the gulf between them. |
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Fiscal reforms process gets under way
Shimla, November 2 Officials are busy finalising the drafts of two important reform-related Bills which, as per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the state with the Centre, were to be passed by the end of October. Necessary ground work is being done to help implement other clauses of the MoU, like abolition of posts lying vacant for the past three years, disinvestment in public sector undertakings and framing of an alternative policy for appointment on compassionate grounds. The fiscal responsibility Bill and the regulation of appointments Bill are likely to be introduced during the ensuing winter session of the Vidhan Sabha. The fiscal responsibility Bill seeks to remove the imbalances in revenue income and revenue expenditure which had landed the state in to a debt trap over a period of time. The draft Bill proposes annual reduction in revenue deficit by .3 (point three) per cent of the state gross domestic product. The regulation of appointments Bill will not only make officers accountable in the matter of recruitment, but also prescribe penalties for irregularities in appointments. The government is likely to adopt a pragmatic approach as far as abolition of vacant posts is concerned. In all, there are 8,000 such posts. Various departments have been asked to identify posts which could be done away with. Functional posts, which were essential for public service delivery, will not be abolished. The effort is to restrict the number of posts to be abolished to around 2000. The process of disinvestment initiated in the State Tourism Development Corporation is already under way. The Centre has asked the state to either come out with a policy for providing a one-time financial grant in lieu of appointment on compassionate ground or restrict the number of such appointments to 300 per year. The financial implications of the two options are being evaluated. The officials do not see much problem in downsizing the administration in accordance with the MoU. About three per cent (around 4500) employees will be retiring every year and even if one per cent of the resultant vacant posts are filled, the strength of the staff will come down by 2000 annually. However, the exercise for linking user charges for various services to the price index has not been started yet. |
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Move to oust MC chief
Solan, November 2 Aimed at seeking the removal of Ms Grover, who represents the ruling Congress party, seven of the nine councillors who had signed the letter including, five BJP councillors: Ms Bimla Garg, Dr Ravikant Sood, Mr Vineet Goyal, Meera Anand and Mr Shamsher Thakur, a Congress councillor Ms Shammi Sahni and Ratni alias Rajia, an independent, were among those who submitted the letter to the DC today. Interestingly, two other councillors including an independent, Mr Himesh Jaggi, and HVC backed Roop Chand stayed away. It was being assumed that the duo had decided not to extend their support to the move despite having signed the letter on Sunday. The two other Congress councillors, including Mr S.S Jinna, Mr Sanjay Awasthi and an independent Mr Kulbhushan Gupta however continued to support Ms Grover. The move also has the covert support of a nominated councillor of the ruling Congress party, who has been closely aligning with the BJP councillors and the local MLA, Dr Rajiv Bindal to plot the move, sources revealed. It was interesting to note that the said councillor was nominated by the Chief Minister and now he was spearheading the move to dislodge chairperson. |
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Tibetans seek release of freedom activist
Dharamsala, November 2 Nearly 100 monks sat on a dharna at the McLeodganj bus stand to seek withdrawal of the death sentence. Nuns from different nunneries would participate in the three-day dharna tomorrow and the general public will join on the last day. The dharna is being organised by the National Democratic Party of Tibet, in collaboration with Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Regional Tibetan Women Association and Gu-Chu-Sum. Trulku Tenzin Delek had been charged with ‘committing crimes concerning explosives’ and is scheduled to be executed on December 4. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy has also launched a campaign, asking the Chinese government to guarantee the safety of Delek. It has also asked the United Nations to intervene in the matter. |
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Cong fact-finding panel visits Guler
Nurpur, November 2 The committee, which comprises Mr Kuldeep Rathore, Mr Milkhi Ram Goma and Mr Ishwer Dass, and constituted by PCC chief Vidya Stokes, was opposed by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh by saying that there was no necessity of such a committee. The committee held meetings with office-bearers of the local unit of the Congress. Mr Bharti listed causes of his defeat before the committee. He demanded disciplinary action against those leaders who worked against the interests of the party. |
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Rana sworn in as MLA
Shimla, November 2 He was administrated the oath of office by Speaker Gangu Ram Musaffir in his chamber. Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, state BJP chief Suresh Bharadwaj and BJP legislators were present on the occasion. With this, the strength of the BJP has risen to 18 in the 68-member House, while the Congress strength is 43.
— PTI |
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Land pooling for providing serviced plots
Shimla, November 2 As per the proposal, the land owned by individuals would be pooled together and sale of plots would be undertaken only after developing the site. Out of this land, 60 per cent of the area would be used for construction activity and the remaining would be used for making roads, parks, parking and open spaces available for the residents. One of the main reasons being attributed for the haphazard and lopsided growth of the town is the failure of the housing authorities to provide serviced land. It is for this reason that town planners and architects have stressed the need for creating serviced land on a war footing so that shifting of population from the congested localities can take place slowly. Sources in the Town and Country Planning Department point out that as a result of land pooling, the price of the raw land will be enhanced by at least four times, thereby bringing better profits to the land owners. “Since land acquisition is a cumbersome and difficult task, a number of government departments will have to be involved before the concept of land pooling can be enforced”, said an official. As per the proposal, the Revenue Department, the Municipal Corporation, panchayats, the Town and Country Planning Department and the Special Area Development Authorities (SADA) would have to be involved in this exercise. Another positive aspect of land pooling would be relative reduction in land litigation, which is a major problem as all procedural wrangles and disputes would be taken care by the government at the time of acquiring land. The land buyers stand to gain from this procedure as the charges made by the development authority for developing the plot would be reduced from the normal 17 per cent of the basic value of the land to almost 10 per cent. As such land pooling would not only regulate construction activity but the buyers will be able to get better developed plots with provision for basic amenities, that are a must. |
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Admissions to law course in order: VC
Shimla, November 2 Prof Verma, who addressed a press conference here to clarify the position, said that under Ordinance 3.2 (a) he had permitted the Lala Lilu Ram Educational Trust to make admissions on the basis of the qualifying examination as per the rules of the university. “It was in the larger public interest that the university granted permission to make admissions on the basis of academic merit as an entire session would have gone waste and the students would have had to go to other places for admission,” he explained. He said from the next academic session the trust would have to make admissions strictly on the basis of an entrance examination. He added that the syllabus and admission rules for the law course had already been approved by the academic council and the executive council. Reacting to the BJP allegations that he had exercised emergency powers, Prof Verma said that there was no need for him to do so as under the provisions of the Ordinance 3.2 (a) he was empowered to take a decision regarding the mode of admission. He added that the trust had been granted a no-objection certificate by the state
government and even the Bar Council of India had granted them affiliation as they fulfilled all the requirements. The VC explained that the HPU could not start the five-year law course as it was difficult to fulfil all the requirements like a separate library within a short span which the said trust is fulfilling. “Since there were only 50 applicants for the 80 law seats, it is clear that nobody has been discriminated against and admission has been done in accordance with the provisions of the ordinances,” he stated. |
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CPM’s youth federation to hold rally in Delhi today
Mandi, November 2 Its state president, Mr Vishal Bhardwaj, said the DYFI would press upon the Central Government to provide employment to the youth. “The rally will also raise the issue of generating a social environment free of communalism and terrorism,” he said. The DYFI would also ask the government to fill vacant posts in government departments. “The right to work should be made the fundamental right,” Mr Bhardwaj said. |
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“Star nite” cancelled
Mandi, November 2 Talking to reporters, the Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, Mr Ali Raza Rizvi, said the “Star nite” had been cancelled as the organisers of the event could sell just 63 tickets for the show. |
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