 |
|
Bank scam
15 killed in maxi cab mishap
BJP, Congress trade charges on corruption
Timber traders stay away from auctions
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Power tariff likely to go up
Pharmacy owners flay ayurveda
Medical camp concludes
Justice V.M. Jain takes oath
Dharna against Patent
Act
|
|
Defaulters of coop bank to be booked
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 28 He said the government was making efforts to revive the bank which had been functioning well until 2001.Its amalgamation into some other bank would be considered only if the exercise to revive it failed to yield the results. He said the irregularities first came to light during inspections carried out by the RBI following which the board of director was dissolved and an administrator was appointed. Mr Jai Ram Thakur and Mr Mohinder Singh raised the matter through a call attention motion and urged the government to take steps to ensure that the 2,600 depositors did not lose money due to collapse of the bank. In his reply, Mr Kuldeep Kumar, Industries Minister, said the RBI imposed a ban on transactions after inspection revealed that loans had been advanced to the employees and relatives of those in the management and that the non-performing assets (NPAs) had crossed Rs 7.7 crore. Loans of even those not eligible were written off. The administrator of the bank had drawn at a plan for its revival which had been sent to the RBI for approval. The bank had initiated efforts to recover the outstanding loans as a result of which the NPAs had declined by Rs 1.89 crore. Earlier, Mr Mohinder Singh alleged that influential persons had been granted huge loans and read out a list of defaulters. He demanded that the bank should be merged into the state cooperative bank. He also drew the attention of the government to the difficulties being faced by some private educational institutions and social organisations who had accounts in the bank. They were finding it impossible to run their day-to-day activities as the RBI had banned all transactions.
|
|
15 killed in maxi cab mishap
Shimla, February 28 Thirteen persons, including driver Surinder Bhagat, died on the spot while two others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. The injured have been admitted to a Bhabhanagar hospital and the condition of two of them is stated to be critical. The deceased have been identified as Ravi Kumar, Vidyanand, Rattan Sukh, Naresh Kumar, Sewajang, her husband Devamukh, Sumitra, Sangeeta, Bharti Devi, Sitamani, Tara Chand, Mohan Singh and Ravi Kant. The victims belonged to nearby villages. The ill-fated vehicle (HP 02 0897) was carrying 23 persons. One of them jumped out of the vehicle and escaped unhurt. Governor
V.S. Kokje and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh have expressed shock over the accident and expressed their sympathy with the bereaved families.
— PTI |
|
|
BJP, Congress trade charges on corruption
Shimla, February 28 As the BJP legislators kept attacking the government on the issue of corruption, Mr Harsh Wardhan of the Congress launched a counter offensive by reminding them what happened while they were in power. He reminded the party that the Dhumal government was castigated by its own ministers and legislators for rampant corruption, regionalism and favouritism in recruitments and irregularities in award of contracts. He read out the letter in which the Hamirpur-based subordinate services selection board and some other institutions were specifically mentioned in this regard. Earlier, Mr Mohinder Singh (BJP) launched a frontal attack on the government and alleged that power projects had been assigned to some private companies in which a Central Minister and his son, who was also a minister in Andhra government, had stakes. Not only that the construction companies engaged in the execution of the Larji projects were being pressurised to give subcontracts to the local companies in which a minister had interest. He mentioned the names nine such companies. As a result of all this the cost of the project had crossed Rs 1300 crore, which would make the power too costly. He also referred to the irregularities in the Nankheri cooperative society and the fertiliser scam. Mr Ravinder Ravi, also of the BJP, focussed on the purchase scam in the Kangra cooperative tea society. Mr Rakesh Kalia of the Congress referred to the land scams in his own constituency during the BJP rule. At this stage Mr Virbhadra Singh, the Chief Minister, intervened and informed the House that inquiry was on into such purchases. |
|
Timber traders stay away from auctions
Nurpur, February 28 They protested against the refusal of the authorities of the Himachal Pradesh State Forest Corporation (HPSFC) to lift the timber sold to traders in earlier auctions. Members of the Timber Traders Association, who assembled at the HPSFC’s sale depots here and Bhadroya for taking part in the auction, protested when they were not allowed to lift the timber sold to them in previous auctions. They said the corporation which had received payment for timber, was not even allowing them to lift it causing difficulties to the buyers who had made commitments to supply timber to their customers. Meanwhile, the official of the marketing HPSFC clarified that the grading of the auctioned timber lots were being examined following a probe ordered by the state government in the wake of the irregularities detected in the grading of timber lots in the previous auctions. He added that the auctioned timber would only be released after inquiry and future auctions would also be held after ensuring proper grading of the lots. |
|
Power tariff likely to go up
Shimla, February 28 If the new power policy approved by the Centre early this month is implemented, no category of consumers can be charged at less than Rs 1.40 per unit. The state electricity board has already filed the application for determination of tariff for 2005-06 and impact of the new policy will be seen in the next tariff order of the state electricity regulatory commission. At present, the domestic consumers are being charged at nominal rates as the power tariff for this category is being cross subsidised with industrial and bulk consumers paying at a much higher rate. In addition, the government is also paying a subsidy of about Rs 3.26 crore per month to maintain the present tariff level. The tariff for the highly subsidised Antyodya families with a monthly consumption of up to 45 units is a meagre 70 paise per unit and other domestic consumers, the charges are 85 paise per unit for the first 45 units , Rs 1.30 per unit for 46 to 150 units and Rs 2.40 per unit above 500 units. On the other hand, the commercial consumers are being charged at Rs 3.50 per unit, about 70 paise per unit more than the average cost of supply. |
|
Pharmacy owners flay ayurveda
Nurpur, February 28 At a meeting of the association held at Nagrota Bhagwan yesterday, members of the association expressed resentment over the issuance of notices to ayurvedic pharmacies that were already facing the closure due to poor financial health in the state. Mr Ashok Sharma and Mr Upendra Gupta, president and general secretary of the association, in a joint statement here today, said owners of ayurvedic pharmacies were already being harassed by officials of the ayurvedic directorate for getting product licences, approvals and goods manufacturing practice. They said due to the lack of coordination between the top brass of the Directorate of Ayurveda and Official on Special Duty (OSD), the owners of the pharmacies were facing difficulties. They urged the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to help in the survival of the pharmacies in the state. |
|
Medical camp concludes
Sundernagar, February 28 According to Dr R.C. Dhawan, District Ayurvedic Officer, Mandi, 168 patients were examined and 24 given treatment. As many as 33 patients were further referred for treatment at Rajiv Gandhi Ayurvedic Post Graduate Institute, Paprola, Kangra. The patients were given free treatment and provided free accommodation and medicine near the historical Mahadev temple. A team of doctors from Paprola, Manvi and Mandi conducted the camp successfully. |
|
Justice V.M. Jain takes oath
Shimla, February 28 The Chief Justice, Mr V.K. Gupta, administered the oath of office to Mr Justice Jain. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Mr Justice L.S. Panta, Mr Justice Arun Kumar Goel, Mr Justice M.R. Verma, Mr Justice K.C. Sood and Mr Justice Deepak Gupta. The others who attended the function included the Advocate-General, judicial officers and members of the Bar. Mr Justice Jain, who was born on November 19,1945, practised for 13 years in the Punjab, and Haryana High Court before he was selected as Additional District and Sessions Judge in the Haryana in 1981. |
|
Dharna against Patent
Act
Shimla, February 28 The demonstrators gathered at the Deputy Commissioner’s Office and took out a march. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
