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Objection to remark against CM’s daughter
Pact on Parechu dam relief for state govt
BJP committee adopts resolutions against MP
Chand is Kangra Cong block chief
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Probe ordered against BSNL official
Lawyers form action panel
Fire damages three houses in Bhuntar
90-yr-old building gutted in fire
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Objection to remark against CM’s daughter
Shimla, April 12 The two ministers took a strong exception to the charge that the Chief Minister's daughter, Ms Abhilasha Kumari, Additional Advocate- General, had been paid much more and asserted that she had a long experience in the profession and had a practice of 19 years. She was the Standing Counsel for the Central Government from 1996 to 2002 during various regimes and also remained Standing Counsel for various boards and corporations of the state for years together, even during the BJP regime, which indicated her ability and merit. Payments to the Advocate -General, the Additional Advocate- General and Standing Counsel is made strictly according to the final disposal and fee structure approved by the state government from time to time, after obtaining court attendance certificate from the court concerned. The fee structure was the same as was notified in January 2003 by the then BJP government. They said that out of the total admissible amount, one-thirds was paid to the law officers who got the case admitted and remaining two-thirds was paid to the law officers to get it finally disposed. Thus, one-third amount was going to the Law officers appointed by then BJP government. Since the disposal was on higher side, therefore, the amount of fee paid to the law officers including the Advocate -General and the Additional Advocate- General was also higher. They said that during the BJP regime, advocates were engaged for Supreme Court and the government made payment of Rs 36.61 lakh to them during 2001-2002 and 2002-03 whereas the present government had paid only Rs 20.13 lakh during the past two years which was much less. Mr Kaul Singh and Mr Rao took Mr Mohinder Singh to task for misleading the people by giving figures about the allocation of the budget for flood control and irrigation and said that being a former minister he should know that funds were allocated according to need and schemes being implemented in the areas and not on regional considerations. So far as the allocation of funds in Shimla and Mandi zones was concerned the construction cost in these two zone was much more then Kangra zone because of hilly terrain. In Kangra Rs 8.64 crore had been spent on medium irrigation and Rs 86 lakh on tubewells and in Mandi area Rs 50 lakh on tubewells and Rs 84 lakh on irrigation. In Shimla only Rs 50 lakh had been spent on irrigation. Besides, in Kangra division Rs 11 crore had also been spent under flood control. The ministers said Mr Mohinder Singh had thrown all rules and norms to wind just to benefit his near and dear ones and he was forced to quit when some minister and few MLAs levelled corruption charges against him.
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Pact on Parechu dam relief for state govt
Shimla, April 12 With China agreeing to provide information to India about the water level and discharge from the Parechu dam, which had caused panic amongst the villagers living along the Sutlej last year, officials in the state government are a relieved lot. “Even though the hydrological station at Langquen Zangbo will be ready before the monsoons next year, exchange of authentic information will make the situation better,” commented an official. As a disaster management exercise the state government had been forced to shift more than 3,500 people in 56 villages in the districts of Kinnaur, Shimla, Kulu and Bilaspur, last year. With China refusing to grant permission to Indian experts to inspect the site of the formation of the natural dam over Parechu river, there was utter confusion amidst conflicting information pouring in from various sources. Villagers spent sleepless nights out of their homes as there were unconfirmed reports about controlled blasting to drain out the water. A team of experts from the USA had visited the entire Sutlej basin last month to gain first hand information about the terrain so that a flood control model could be developed for the area. |
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BJP committee adopts resolutions against MP
Nurpur, April 12 The mandal committee of the BJP passed a resolution against Mr Parmar for holding public meetings without taking into confidence or informing leaders of the local unit. The committee took strong exception to grants under the Local Area Development Fund (LADF) in the area by Mr Parmar on the recommendations of Congress leaders by ignoring the BJP mandal. The committee passed a resolution empowering mandal president Vinod Sharma to reconstitute the committee. It also decided to serve a show-cause notice to mandal general secretary Chaman Lal Sharma asking him as to why he would not be suspended from the party for his alleged anti-party activities for the past few months. The committee expressed its resentment against the state BJP vice-president for accepting a reception by the local truck operators at Jassur on Friday where he was felicitated by the latter following his inclusion in the national BJP Working Committee without taking into confidence the local mandal committee. According to Mr Vinod Sharma copies of the resolution were being submitted to BJP President L.K. Advani, state BJP president Suresh Bhardwaj, former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and former Union Minister Shanta
Kumar. |
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Chand is Kangra Cong block chief
Kangra, April 12 Mr Nishu Mongra, Mr Manoj Gupta, Ms Kusum Lata, Ms Kamlesh Kumari, Mr Om Praksah and Mr Trilok Chand were elected its members. The local MLA, Mr Surender Kaku, was nominated a delegate of the Pradesh Congress Committee. Meanwhile, Mr Bal Krishen Sharma, president, city Congress committee, and Mr Hem Raj Chandel, member, District Congress Committee, in a letter to Mr K.C. Lenka, chairman, election authority, Himachal Pradesh, has complained that names of a large number of workers were found missing from voters’ list. Mr Surender Kaku said the poll was held in a fair manner and all officer-bearers were elected unanimously. |
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Probe ordered against BSNL official
Solan, April 12 However, the affidavit filed by the DE (administration), Mr Nanak Chand, had pointed out that the department would have to incur an expenditure of Rs 16,160 for providing a telephone connection to Mr Bhagwan Singh. He was, therefore, not provided a connection despite having applied on December 24, 1998. On the other hand, the department had provided a telephone connection to Mr Chattar Singh, who had applied for it on November 10, 2003. The plea of the BSNL proved false after a scrutiny of the records which confirmed that Mr Chattar Singh had been issued a connection after having applied for it much later and he resided merely 500 metres away from Mr Bhagwan Singh’s residence. The General Manager has been directed to take suitable action against the DE and also enquire as to on whose insistence the telephone connection to Mr Chattar Singh was released. A period of one month has been fixed for the inquiry and submit the report to the consumer forum. |
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Lawyers form action panel
Sundernagar, April 12 The committee shall be headed by Mr D.R. Sharma, who at present is member of the Bar Council of HP from Bilaspur. According to Mr Sharma, members from different bars associations of Himachal Pradesh were included in the action committee and the next coarse of action would be decided soon. He said that the decision of the government to impose professional tax was unfortunate as the common man would also be affected. During the meeting members raised the slogans against the Chief Minister, Mr Vir-bhadara Singh. |
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Fire damages three houses in Bhuntar
Kulu, April 12 One saw mill-cum-wool carding mill, two shops and three residential houses were damaged. Five fire engines from Kulu and two from Bhuntar airport took five hours to extinguish the fire. The Subdivisional Magistrate rushed to the spot and supervised the operation. He said the administration had given Rs 5,000 each to the victims as immediate relief. |
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90-yr-old building gutted in fire
Shimla, April 12 The fire started from the attic and the entire timber-framed structure was engulfed in flames within no time. The fire engines arrived within minutes but by that time the two-storeyed building had been transformed into an inferno. Flames leapt high into the night sky as high velocity winds fanned the fire. In the meantime the fire engines of the Army also arrived on the scene. About 70 firemen fought the flames for more than two hours to bring the blaze under control. While the structure was raged to ground, the firemen managed to save the adjoining buildings in the congested area. Mrs Pushpa Pasricha, owner of the building, was not at home when the fire broke out.
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Petrol stations to remain closed
on April 18
Shimla, April 12 According to the Himachal Pradesh Petroleum Dealers Association, all petrol stations in the state will remain shut from midnight of April 17 to midnight of April 18 in support of the nationwide protest by petroleum dealers.
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Suhi Fair concludes
Chamba, April 12 More than 1,000-year-old Suhi Mata temple is an inseparable part of Chamba’s cultural heritage. The temple was raised in the memory of Queen
Sunayana. |
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