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Virbhadra vows to fight
corruption
HP’s e-governance plan has ‘failed’ to take off, says
study
Mass felling of trees to widen
road
Cement factory problem
intensifies
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Bailable warrants against minister
6 sentenced to life in murder
case
Miscreants damage Netaji’s statue
Reinstatement sought
Three buried alive in tunnel
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Virbhadra vows to fight
corruption
Bijheri (Hamirpur),
January 21 Addressing a largely-attended gathering here last evening on the first day of his five-day visit to the district today, he said the previous BJP Government was to be blamed for the present mess the state was facing. The Chief Minister reached here four-and-half hours late due to which all the functions were delayed. Earlier, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of the Rs 68 lakh bridge over Dugh Khad near Fagoti village in the district. He directed the authorities concerned to construct it within a period of one year. He also inaugurated the building for additional accommodation in Government Senior Secondary School, Bijhar. The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of a bridge over Makan Khad on the Vaishno Devi-Jorghat road. The Chief Minister said the previous government had befooled the people of the state by promising to regularise encroachments on forest and government land which resulted in largescale encroachments. Detailing the contributions of successive Congress governments in the development of the state, Mr Virbhadra Singh said it had been given special attention by the Congress leadership right from Pandit Nehru who maintained the state's separate entity and Mrs Indira Gandhi, who granted statehood on January 25, 1971. Earlier, the Chief Minister addressed a meeting at Fagoti and announced a grant of Rs 50,000 for construction of a playground at Government Middle School, Fagoti. Mr Virbhadra Singh offered prayers at the famous shrine at Sidh Baba Balak Nath. On arrival, he was accorded a warm reception by the people of the area en route from Shah Talai to Bijhari. The Chief Minister also announced construction of a bridge over Makhan Khad at a cost of Rs 32 lakh. Mr Manjeet Singh Dogra, former MLA, welcomed the Chief Minister and apprised him of various demands of the area. The Chief Minister was presented with a draft of Rs 11 lakh by Mr Devesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Hamirpur, who is also chairman of the Sidh Baba Balak Nath Temple Trust, as contribution towards the CM's Relief Fund while cheques amounting to Rs 19,001 were presented by Mr Kashmir Singh Thakur,chairman, Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, and Rs 21,100 by the Divya Sarvhit Sudhar Sabha, Bijhari. The Chief Minister lauded the gesture. GULELA: Asserting that no ban had been imposed on government jobs in the wake of the MoU with the central government on fiscal reforms, the Chief Minister said “the process of recruitment is on and the state government has sanctioned 22,000 new posts since 2003. Speaking at a public meeting here today, Mr Virbhadra Singh clarified that he was not against signing of the MoU as it was the need of the hour in view of fiscal crisis. He, however, said that the way the previous BJP Government had signed the document without taking the legislature into confidence was a matter of shame. Calling upon big industrialists to set up units in the state, the Chief Minister urged them to create more job avenues for local people. He claimed that the private sector had invested a sum of Rs 8,000 crore in the state since year 2003. Earlier, the Chief Minister dedicated to the people a bridge over Kohli Khad on the Bhira-Halana-Kaler-Mattensidh road costing Rs 18 lakh. Mr B.R.Rahi, chairman of the HP Education Board, announced that the Shiksha Rattan Award would be conferred on the Chief Minister for his outstanding contribution in field of education. Ms Anita Verma, MLA, and Mr Kuldip Pathania, former Congress MLA, also addressed the meeting. The Chief Minister announced upgradation of the local middle school from the current academic session. |
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HP’s e-governance plan has ‘failed’ Shimla, January 21 Though managed on the lines of the earlier Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh, the Lok Mitra Project did not move beyond “political gimmick”, the study conducted by Dr Amarjeet Singh of the Computer Science Department points out. All respondents and Soochna Kendras reported dismal results and the mission of the project to use IT to make people aware of government policies and programmes and provide an interface them to interact with various government functionaries to ensure their direct contribution in the process of governance, has not been achieved. The project suffers due to connectivity problems, non-availability of hardware and software technicians and resistance to change in government offices. The reliability of telecom links and quality of electricity demand improvement. The IT department has tried to apply some corrections to sustain the project. However, these problems are set to overcome. The study indicates that mere installation of equipment and machines cannot help achieve good governance and the men behind them more are important. The main problems identified with the implementation of e-governance are low availability of expert IT manpower in governance, technology obsolescence, low computer literacy of government employees and co-ordination problems among multiple agencies looking after e-governance initiative in the state. However, the present endeavour of land record computerisation in the state and e-governance centres matters in eliminating the, role of middlemen and improving interaction between the government and the citizens. The suggest study that to achieve e-governance the right to information should be in place, public representative must be sensitised on IT benefits, co-operative movements to provide Internet connections should be started in the state particularly in the horticulture sector, and telemedicine and
tele-commuting should be implemented without delay. |
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Mass felling of trees to widen
road
Deotsidh (Hamirpur), January 21 The main aim of the Sidh Baba Balak Nath Temple Trust here is to widen the road so that more facilities are provided to the pilgrims visiting the shrine here. The trust has sanctioned Rs 1.40 crore for widening the road between Deotsidh and Shah Talai and Deotsidh and Salauni. A visit to the area last evening revealed that workers of a forest contractor engaged by the HP Forest Corporation were busy felling trees and making logs of the felled trees. They said that they had the permission of the Department of Forest for felling the trees. The pine trees of the Dhar Sidh forest in the districts of Hamirpur and Bilaspur are known for their quality and those getting training in various forest courses are brought here for educating them on the quality and systematic growth of pine wood. Mr Balbir Singh, Temple Officer, told The Tribune that the trust had taken permission from the Central Government for felling the trees to widen the road between Deotsidh and Shah Talai. He said that trees would also be felled on the Deotsidh-Salauni road so that both these tracks were made double-laned. However, insiders in the Department of Forests feel that the felling work was unscientific as many big trees have been felled without any valid reasons. They say that there was a need to have systematic planning before doing the demarcation work for the felling of the trees and widening of the road. There are reports that the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, who crossed through area on Friday afternoon was also taken aback by such a huge felling of trees. He has sought details from the agencies concerned, the insiders said here today. |
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Cement factory problem
intensifies
Solan, January 21 A Gypsy belonging to Darlaghat police station was also damaged along with some trucks. The three truck unions — ADKM, BLLS and SDTO — which had diffused a 10-day strike after intervention by the district administration on Wednesday had initiated transportation work last evening. The police has registered a case against 31 persons for rioting, armed with a deadly weapon, voluntarily causing hurt, preventing a public servant from discharging his duties, and causing damage to public property. While seven persons were arrested, three others were rounded up for interrogation, revealed the SP. A massive hunt has been launched for about six persons, including former pradhan Ram Krishen, who have gone in hiding after registration of a case. The police officials on the GACL premises were taken by surprise when a group of truck operators led by Ram Krishen, gathered near the main gate of the factory and incited the other trucks not to transport clinker last evening. They then pelted stones at the two trucks (HP-11-1596 and HP-11-3013) which were coming out of the factory, damaging their glasses. The SHO, Darlaghat, who was positioned there, was injured along with two Head Constables Om Prakash and Harbhaj. It was learnt that a former pradhan, Ram Krishen, who had lost the union elections some time ago, had spearheaded the agitation. He was aggrieved at having lost the elections and was learnt to have contended the agreement arrived at between the administration and the three truck unions. The three unions had agreed to call off the strike and present the pros and cons of the freight hike till February 4. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rajesh Kumar, and the Superintendent of Police, Mr Gianeshwar Singh, along with the DSP, Mr Sandeep Dhawal, rushed to the spot on receiving information. Additional policemen have been rushed to maintain law and order from the neighbouring Sirmaur and Shimla districts. A battalion from Junga and armed policemen from across the district have been stationed with tear gas. The SP said the situation was under control and mobile patrolling was being undertaken in the area. The hill, which had been used by the miscreants to attack the policemen, is also being guarded to avert any such incident. Though trucks started plying from the factory premises, armed policemen are manning the area to ensure peace. |
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Bailable warrants against minister
Chamba, January 21 The Enforcement Department had registered a criminal case against 13 accused, including Mrs Asha Kumari, Education Minister of Himachal Pradesh, and Mr Brijendra Singh on December 15, 2001, alleging that they, in connivance with revenue staff and other persons, had grabbed a piece of land on the outer suburb of Dalhousie hill station. The Enforcement Department had also filed charges against 13 accused in which revenue officials and employees were also involved, besides, Mr Brijendra Singh and Mrs Asha Kumari. The other accused are Mehar Singh, Narinder Ashok, Puran Singh, Dharam Singh, Chet Singh, Pushap Gulati, Vijay Singh, Gurcharan Dass, Balwan Singh, Parkash Chand, son of Bairagi and Parkash Chand, son of Hardyal. |
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6 sentenced to life in murder
case
Una, January 21 One of the accused, Ashok Kumar, was murdered in Una sub-jail. He was on bail and had come there to meet these accused persons. Another accused Gurjant Singh had escaped from jail and had not been arrested so far. As per the order, the convicts, Amrish Rana, Harjinder, Naveen Kumar, Rahul Singh, Malkiyat Singh and Manjit Singh, have been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 50,000 each and in default of payment the convict shall undergo RI for two more years. The convicts were also sentenced to RI for three years with a fine of Rs 10,000 each. They were further sentenced to RI for one year with a fine of Rs 5,000 each and in default of payment of fine each convict shall undergo RI for two more months under Section 323, IPC. Under Section 341 the convicts were further sentenced to simple imprisonment for one month with a fine of Rs 500 each and in default of fine each convict shall undergo simple imprisonment for seven days. The court further sentenced the convicts to RI for three years with a fine of Rs 5,000 each and in default of payment each convict shall undergo RI for six months under Section 148. All these sentences shall run concurrently. The court acquitted Subhdarshan Rani, Sheweta, Sheetal, Anil Kumar, Gurpreet Singh, Shyam Sunder and Praveen Kumar. According to prosecution on September 10, 1999, at about 9.30 p.m., Ashwani Kumar along with Ram Pal accompanied by Raj Kumar, Santosh Singh and Rajeev Kumar were going towards Pir Nigaha, 7 km from Una, in a Maruti car. The accused persons armed with sword, gandasi, khukhri, hockey sticks and lathis attacked the occupants of the car and inflicted fatal injuries on the person of Raj Kumar, Rajeev Kumar and Santosh Singh and also inflicted injuries on the person of Ashwani Kumar, Rampal and Raj Kumar, alias Kaka. Raj Kumar, Rajeev Kumar and Santosh Singh died as a result of these injuries. |
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Miscreants damage Netaji’s statue
Kangra, January 21 According to the police, the statue was beheaded in the night and the police was informed by Mr Deepak Thakur, vice-president of the Nagar Parishad of Nagrota Bagwan, this morning. The statue of the Netaji was installed in the town on March 30, 2002, by the Nager Parishad. The police has registered a case and rounded up seven persons for questioning. Some miscreants had damaged the same statute last year too and the culprits could not be traced out. |
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Reinstatement sought
Shimla, January 21 The state BJP spokesperson, Mr Randhir Sharma, said today that the government must take the employees into confidence if it wants to ensure development of the state. —
TNS |
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Three buried alive in tunnel
Kulu, January 21 They were working with the Satyam group of companies. The deceased engineer was Anurag Sharma of Dhrog village in Hamirpur district. Two labourers were Jai Prakash from Andhra Pradesh and Nepalese Til Bahadur. —
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