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Uproar in HP Vidhan Sabha
CM promises probe into cow slaughter case
Panel to check objections in Class V book
Catchment area treatment plan okayed for 12 projects |
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HAS exam intruder booked
Kinnaur BJP unit stages dharna
Book ’84 riots accused: BJP
State-level I-Day function at Mandi
Meeting held for welfare of mentally challenged Four hurt in mishaps
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Uproar in HP Vidhan Sabha
Shimla, August 9 The trouble started soon after the question hour when Mr Dhumal said the Chief Minister had misled the House during question hour over the supplementary list of selected candidates released by the board for the post of TGT’s and asserted that they were not from other backward classes or scheduled castes as stated by Mr Virbhadra Singh. Mr Virbhadra Singh replied immediately and said his government believed in complete transparency and gone were the days of Mr Dhumal when everything was done on the political considerations. The Chief Minister said he had given the reply regarding the supplementary list on the basis of the information given by the department. He said he would ask the secretary to write to the board in this regard. He said all sorts of irregularities were committed in the board and already five cases had been filed in the court in this regard against a former chairman of the board. This infuriated Mr Dhumal who made some personal allegations against the Chief Minister, which revoked an equally strong reaction. The two levelled allegation of corruption against each other. Pandemonium prevailed for some time as other members also joined their respective leaders and a shouting match ensued during which both sides raised slogans against each other. The objectionable remarks were later expunged by the Speaker. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the BJP was making a hue and cry out of frustration as the present government had exposed the corruption prevailing in the board during Mr Dhumal’s regime. He said such tactics would not help the BJP in covering its misdeeds and corruption. Earlier, replying to a question of Mr K.D. Dharmani and Mr Ramesh Dhawala, both BJP, Mr Virbhadra Singh said the second list released by the board had the names of the candidates whose certificates regarding caste were to be verified. He said the state public service commission had made 134 recommendations for appointment out of which 98 candidates had been appointed. Some candidates could not be given appointments as the government had abolished the posts for which their names were recommended. Replying to another question, Mr Virbhadra Singh said to expedite work on the construction of roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, the government had decided that no contractor would be awarded more than two works at a time. He said action would be taken against the officers who flouted these instructions. |
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CM promises probe into cow slaughter case
Shimla, August 9 Making a suo motu statement in the House, he said the police had registered a case under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. He said there was a ban on cow slaughter in the state and the police would be asked to register a case under the relevant laws. He said prima facie it appeared that the allegation of cow slaughter was made because of personal enmity. Giving details of the case, he said Mr Ashwini Kumar, a member of the Zila Parishad, telephonically informed the Gagret Police on August 6 last that Rafiq Mohammed of Sanghnai told the Up Pradhan, Mr Gian Chand that about two months ago, three residents Wali Mohammed, Mushtaq Mohammed and Iqbal Mohammed, killed a calf and sold its meat. The bones and other remains were buried in a nearby nullah. The police recovered some parts of the carcass from the site after which a case was registered and all three accused were arrested. However, during the investigations it was revealed that Wali Mohammed had lodged a complaint against Rafiq on August 4. Further, Mrs Biro in her statement told the police that her calf died about two months ago and it was buried in a nullah, which was the same site from which the remains were recovered. He said the remains of the calf would be sent for forensic examination. The Chief Minister said the BJP and the VHP raised the issue without ascertaining the reality. He assured that action would be taken even if it was found that a false complaint had been lodged. |
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Panel to check objections in Class V book
Shimla, August 9 The committee was constituted on the suggestion of the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, who was replying to the call attention motion of Mr Sukh Ram, Mr I.D. Dhiman and Dr Rajiv Bindal on the issue. He said since such issues could crop up in future too, the House should follow some procedure and it should not appear that decision was taken arbitrary. He said he had read the chapter and he did not think that it would hurt the feelings of the Hindus. Moreover, the chapter entitled “story of Rama” of the Progressive English Series book prescribed for Class V was included in the Class VI book in DAV schools also. The BJP leader, Mr P.K. Dhumal, said if DAV does something wrong it could not be used as a justification. Earlier, moving the motion, the BJP members maintained that derogatory references had been made to Lord Hanuman and Rama and that the most revered religious epic of the Hindus should not have been made a basis for writing a comedy play. It would only hurt the sentiments of the community and have a negative impact on the children. The other members of the committee are Mr B.B. Butail, Mrs Asha Kumari, Mr Rohit Thakur, Mr Kuldeep Pathania, Mr Khimi Ram and Captain Atma Ram. |
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Catchment area treatment plan okayed for 12 projects Shimla, August 9 This was stated by Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, in the Vidhan Sabha today while replying to the discussion on the implementation of the CAT plans raised by Mr Mohinder Singh of the BJP. He said so far CAT plans were mandatory only for projects of more than 10 MW capacity. He rejected the criticism of the BJP members that the forest department was lax in implementation and added that the CAT plans were to be implemented over a period of 7 to 10 years. As such it was not correct to say that sanctioned funds were not being spent. He said the CAT plans for 12 projects amounting to Rs 205.8 crore had been approved and the concerned agencies had deposited Rs 101.77 crore, out of which Rs 17.25 crore had been spent. He said if the Forest Department had not been carrying out afforestation in the right earnest, the state’s forest cover would not have increased by 185 sq km as revealed in the year 2001 report of the Forest Survey of India. He said the main concern was raising nurseries so that sufficient plant material was available for afforestation. Earlier, Mr Mohinder Singh said the failure of the Forest Department to implement the CAT plans was causing flash floods in the major rivers of the state and the Nathpa-Jhkari project authorities were facing difficulty in operating the project because of excessive silt in the Sutlej. He said out of Rs 29.57 crore sanctioned under the CAT plan for the 1500 MW project, only Rs 1.96 core had been spent.
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HAS exam intruder booked
Solan, August 9 The case was registered after employees of the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission who were present on examination duty gave a written statement to the police alleging intrusion by the correspondent. The complainant while taking serious view of the manner in which the intruder tried to lift question papers from the ITI-based examination centre has stated that the intruder paid no heed to their moves to deter him. On the contrary the intruder intimidated the staff by saying that when they could leak Vidhan Sabha reports what credence an HAS question paper held . The complainant has also taken exception to the lax arrangement of the ITI staff which allowed an intruder to trespass into the examination centre. |
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Kinnaur BJP unit stages dharna
Shimla, August 9 Besides, Mr Tejwant Negi, president of the Kinnaur BJP, Mr P.K. Dhumal, former Chief Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda and Mr Ramesh Dhawala, both former ministers, also addressed the protesters. The party demanded that the peas crop should be procured from the affected farmers, who could not send their produce to market because of the disruption of road link, at the rate of Rs 25 per kg. The apple growers should be given adequate subsidy to carry their produce up to road heads and that regular helicopter services be operated until the road network was restored. Other demands include withdrawal of FIRs registered against the BJP workers who staged a peaceful protest against inadequate relief measures, expeditious restoration of the National Highway-22 and construction of alternative roads to ensure that the district was not cut off by floods in future. |
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Book ’84 riots accused: BJP
Shimla, August 9 He demanded that those involved in the 1984 genocide should be booked without delay. In a statement here today, he said the report had virtually indicted of the leaders of the Congress and the BJP would not take this lying down as deterrent action was needed to ensure that such incidents did not take place in future. Meanwhile, the BJP held a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here today in which Mr Ramswarup Sharma, vice-president, Mr Sandeepni Bhardwaj, president of the Shimla district BJP, and Mr Ganesh Dutt, former spokesperson of the party, were present. |
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State-level I-Day function at Mandi
Shimla, August 9 Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, Speaker of the HP Vidhan Sabha, will preside over the district-level function at Shimla, Mrs Vidya Stokes, Power Minister, at Una, Mr Sat Mahajan, Revenue Minister at Hamirpur, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, at Dharamsala, Mr Kuldeep Kumar, Industries Minister, at Solan, Mr Singhi Ram, Horticulture Minister, at Nahan, Mr Harsh Mahajan, Animal Husbandry Minister, at Kinnaur and Mr G.S. Bali, Transport Minister, at Chamba. |
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Meeting held for welfare of mentally challenged Shimla, August 9 Mr Negi said the act was enacted to provide guardianship facility to persons with disabilities and it would promote measures for the care and protection of such persons in the event of death of their parent or guardian, beside strengthening the support system for them. It approved the appointment of four legal guardians in the district for the first time. All guardians are the natural parents. The DC stressed the need for creating awareness about the committee and directed that a proper survey through Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) project be conducted to identify mentally challenged children in the district.
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Four hurt in mishaps Baddi, August 9 In another incident, three youths sustained injuries when a truck (HP-12-5791) hit their motor cycle near Degree College, Nalagarh, last evening. The injured were identified as Kuldeep, Sukhvir and Hardeep. A case has been registered.
Kasauli road
blocked Parwanoo, August 9 The road was blocked due to heavy debris that flowed from hills last evening. The PWD swung into action. A JCB machine was put into service to remove the debris from the road.
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Prarthi is state Mahila Cong chief
Shimla, August 9 She is the daughter of late Lal Chand Prarthi, a former minister. |
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