 |
|
Probe allotment of industrial plots, says Dhumal
Man, son die in clash at marriage
Housing subsidy for SCs up
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Start Punjabi, Urdu in schools, says Tarlochan
Income limit for professional tax raised
Goods worth Rs 22 lakh
destroyed in fire
Rain-water harvesting
|
|
Probe allotment of industrial plots, says Dhumal
Solan, June 18 He was speaking to mediapersons here today after a constituency-level function organized to honour the life members of the BJP. While questioning the recent visits of the External Affairs Minister to Russia where he had accompanied Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he said it did not behave a country’s minister to accompany a party president. He demanded the resignation of the minister for this act of “irresponsibility towards the nation” as he was not a party representative but a country’s representative. Reacting to the curtailment of the excise benefit under the new industrial package from 2013 to 2007, he termed it as the biggest failure of the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh. He said despite raising this issue time and again before the central leadership, the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, could not retain the excise benefit. Castigating the government for its failure to avail the benefit to its optimum, Mr Dhumal said only Himachal Pradesh had to bear the brunt of this reduction and even states like Jammu and Kashmir and others in the North East managed to get the excise benefit till 2013. Mr Dhumal alleged that exploitation of industrial workers was rampant as political henchmen close to the government were acting as labour contractors. Unable to defend the rights of the worker benefits like EPF, minimum wages, ESI, etc., these contractors only served their own interests. Raising a finger at the manner in which 68 induction furnaces had been granted permission to operate, he said it was not understood under what compulsion these units were granted permission when there wasn’t adequate power for them he asked. He said with corruption rife at all levels, it remained to be seen how serious the government was in getting its 70 per cent Himachali employment implemented in the industrial units. Earlier, while addressing the party workers, he exhorted them to oppose the anti-people policies of the government. He said the introduction of professional tax, scrapping of subsidies on pesticides, selective subsidy on apple cartons, etc., had burdened the common man. He exhorted the party men to work in unison to make a come back to power and said the ensuing elections to the civic bodies and panchayati raj institutions would expose the working of the government.
|
|
Man, son die in clash at marriage
Chamba, June 18 Disclosing this here today, Mr D.K. Choudhary, DSP, Police Headquarters, Chamba, said on receiving information the police reached the incident place and arrested five persons. The arrested persons are Budhi Parkash, Bindu, Ajit, Sher Singh, Sonu, alias Sudesh, all sons of Bazeeru Ram, a resident of Kakiana village. Cases under Sections 302, 307, 324 and 34 of the IPC have been registered. Mr Choudhary said the victims had been identified as Rattan Chand and his son Ajay Kumar, who succumbed to their injuries on the way to the nearby Civil Hospital at Bathri. The other four sons of Rattan Chand, Sunil, Madan, Anil and Pritam Singh, and Girdhari Lal, a resident of Gandhad village, who were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Pathri, had been referred to the Tanda Medical Hospital, Dharamsala. Their condition was stated to be critical, the DSP added. Rattan Chand and Girdhari Lal along with their families had come to attend the marriage of the sister-in-law of one Khiyali Ram, a resident of Gandhad village. An altercation took place between the sons of Bazeeru Ram and the sons of Rattan Chand and Girdhari Lal. The altercation led to a bloody clash in which Rattan Chand and his son Ajay Kumar were killed. Rattan Chand’s four other sons and Girdhari Lal were seriously injured. According to police investigations, the incident occurred due to an old enmity between the sons of Bazeeru Ram and the families of Rattan Chand and Girdhari Lal. The sons of Bazeeru Ram had allegedly come with a motive to take revenge.
|
|
Housing subsidy for SCs up
Dharamsala, June 18 This was declared by Revenue and Rural Development Minister Sat Mahajan, who was presiding over the meeting of the district welfare committee here today. He said that the rehabilitation grant to encourage widow remarriage had also been increased to Rs 25,000. Mr Sat Mahajan urged the officers to help the economically weak. He said that top priority should be given to those living below the poverty line and the government was committed to implementing its election manifesto. Earlier, Deputy Commissioner Bharat Khera said in 2004, as many as 53 cases had been awarded under the inter-caste marriage scheme and 455 SCs, 287 OBCs, and two STs were given benefits under the Housing Subsidy Scheme. He said that 36,833 persons had got benefit under different pension schemes. |
|
Start Punjabi, Urdu in schools, says Tarlochan
Shimla, June 18 Mr Tarlochan Singh, who is touring the state to review the implementation of various schemes meant for the welfare of minorities, said during his interaction with the representatives of the minorities it came out that there was no communal tension or religious bias in the state and the government had been responding to the demands of the minorities promptly. However, with such a good track record the government should not have any second thoughts on setting up a state minority commission, as it would only help strengthen the prevailing goodwill. He said the state had already constituted the Minorities Welfare Board and as such there was no reason for delaying the setting up of a minorties commission. He lamented that the statutory recommendation of the commission that the state should provide facilities for teaching of Punjabi and Urdu in schools had not been implemented. He said that the state government had a plan to introduce the two languages in schools where at least 20 students opted for them. However, the commission was of the view that the languages should be introduced from Class VI to Class X in schools where the minorities had a sizeable population without any condition for minimum enrolment. The state could approach the Centre for funds for which a scheme was already there. Mr Tarlochan Singh said the state government was aware of the fact that the land belonging to temples and gurdwaras had been transferred to tenants under the land reforms and it was trying to find ways and means to restore it back to them. The commission , he said , had got analysed the census data to dispel misunderstanding regarding growth rates. It had asked the Centre to get a sample survey carried out to ascertain if there was any truth in the complaint of the Buddhists that their population had not been properly enumerated. As per the census, the population of Buddhists was 77 lakh but the representatives of the community maintained that their number was much higher. Mr Tarlochan Singh said the problem of population growth could be taken care of only by educating people. Kerela, which had almost an equal population of Muslims, Hindus and Christians, had the highest literacy rate and the lowest population growth rate. He said the literacy rate was lowest among the Muslims and their population growth rate was the highest. Some states had introduced incentive — oriented schemes to encourage people to send their children to schools. He said the states had also been asked to give due representation to the minorities in various municipal corporations and other bodies as not many of them were able to make it through the electoral process. |
|
Income limit for professional tax raised
Shimla, June 18 Announcing this at a press conference, Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, said the new limit was higher than even the income tax exemption limit. He said the new limit would come into force from July 1, 2005. Those liable to pay the tax would be required to file tax returns with the Excise and Taxation Department. There was a provision for penal action against defaulters, who failed to pay the tax and file returns. He said the government was seized of the problem of water shortage in Shimla but the situation was not as bad as projected in the media reports. Even the worst-hit areas were getting water every other day and 35 tankers had also been pressed into service to supply water in scarcity areas. The government had already started work on a Rs 40 crore scheme to augment the water supply. Water would be lifted from the Giri river. It was likely to be completed within two years. The Chief Minister said he had directed all ministers to route all the files pertaining to their departments through the Parliamentary Secretaries attached to them. He said the general administration department had also issued similar instructions to the secretaries. Regarding the recent appointments in Himachal Pradesh University, he said a Chief Parliamentary Secretary had complained to him that his wife had not been selected but he clearly told him that the government did not interfere in the affairs of the university. He could take up the matter only if merit had been ignored or there were some other irregularity. The Congress had made irregularity and nepotism in appointments during the BJP regime an issue and it could not take a contrary stand after coming to power. Referring to reports that some minister had a grouse that he was not consulted on the appointments of Parliamentary Secretaries, the Chief Minister said it was his prerogative and he was not required to consult anyone. Moreover, the list of Parliamentary Secretaries was cleared by the Congress high command. He said the government had lodged a strong protest with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests against the unilateral environmental clearance granted to the Parbati-III and Chamera-III projects and urged it to review the decision. |
|
Goods worth Rs 22 lakh
destroyed in fire Baddi, June 18 The ill-fated truck belongs to N.P. Transport Company. The two other loaded trucks (HP-12-A-7145 and HP-14-3045) parked nearby caught fire and got completely charred. A case under Sections 336, 285 and 427 of the IPC has been registered against driver Ram Chand who hails from Sameri village of Lakhanpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh. |
|
Rain-water harvesting
Shimla, June 18 Presiding over a one-day workshop on rainwater harvesting organised by the Irrigation and Public Health Department here today. Mrs Sandhu said water was a precious resource and its need for planning and development in the larger perspective could not be over emphasised. There was a great need for the conservation of water and the enormous amount of rain and snow the state received, water harvesting would go a long way in meeting the increasing demand as the per capita availability of water would improve to a great extent.
|
| 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 | |
