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Vidhan Sabha session begins
Heated exchanges in House
Insurance scam: CM says no state employee involved
Rainwater harvesting made compulsory
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Plan to bring 90,000 hectares under irrigation
BJP wins both seats in Bharmour
Fleecing adds to woes of labourers
4 killed in accident
2 killed as vehicle falls into gorge
10 tourists hurt in road mishap
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Vidhan Sabha session begins
Dharamshala, December 26 It was for the first time in the 53-year history of the Vidhan Sabha that a session was being held outside Shimla. The event was politically significant as it was being seen as a step further towards making Dharamsala the second capital of the state. The decision to hold the winter session at Dharamsala was taken last month and it was a Herculean task for the administration to make the “mega event” possible. While “Prayas Bhavan”, the hall of the local government college, was transformed into Vidhan Sabha chamber, complete with an “officer visitors” gallery, the adjoining tribal bhavan housed the ministers chambers. Obviously, the space for scribes, officers and visitors was not adequate. Starting the proceedings, Mr G.R. Musafir, Speaker, said it was “golden” letter day in the history of the Vidhan Sabha which would have the same importance for the state as April 15, 1948, when Himachal came into existence, and January 25, 1971, the day it attained statehood. At the very outset, the House made obituary references to K.R. Narayanan, former President, and Kishori Lal, former Himachal minister, who died recently. Later, Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, told mediapersons that it was a well thought out decision to hold the winter session here. The move was aimed at strengthening the emotional unity among the people of the state and demolish the bogey of regionalism. He said the winter session at Dharamsala would be an annual event and all required infrastructure and facilities would be created for it in due course. Mr P.K. Dhumal, leader of the BJP Legislative group, on the other hand said it was a hasty decision to hold session here without creating the necessary infrastructure. He, however, said it was a welcome step and it was already on the BJP agenda. While there were hardly any local people in the visitor’s gallery, some members of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile could be seen in the VIP gallery observing the proceedings keenly. |
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Heated exchanges in House
Dharamsala, December 26 A serious discussion suddenly turned into a heated exchange between the two senior leaders when Mr Virbhadra Singh remarked that he knew only one contractor pointing towards Mr Mohinder Singh. The BJP member was immediately on his legs protesting over the remark and said he knew what was going on in Rampur and that he had video recordings to show his charges of corruption against contractors. This led to noisy scenes with both sides engaging in a shouting match. At this stage, Mr P.K. Dhumal, the leader of the BJP group, urged the Chair that if remarks of Mr Mohidner Singh were to be expunged, those made by the Chief Minister should also be expunged. The Speaker said he would go through the record and see if there was anything objectionable. |
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Insurance scam: CM says no state employee involved
Dharamshala, December 26 To a question of Mr Mohinder Singh of the BJP, he said the government had no information about the involvement of any employee leader as the chargesheet filed by the CBI named only Mr Rajesh Gupta, Manager of the local branch of United India Insurance Company, Mr V.S. Nanta, accounts officer, and Mr Dewan Chand, a private agent. He said the scheme was first started in 1997 and renewed periodically. It was only in 2005 that certain complaints of irregularities were made and the CBI registered a case. He said since no employee of the state was named in the chargesheet, he could not say anything about any employee leader having received commission as alleged by some members of the Opposition. To another question, the Chief Minister told Mr Raghu Raj of the Congress that the government provided Rs 33.26 crore for the modernisation of the police force from 2003-04 to 2005-06 out of which Rs 24.18 crore had been spent so far. Besides acquisition of modern weapons, vehicles and other items, the funds would be utilised for the construction of residential and non-residential buildings and strengthening of a forensic laboratory. Mr Virbhadra Singh informed Mr Ishwar Das Dhiwan of the BJP that a notification to set up a separate directorate of elementary education had been issued on October 31. A committee had also been set up for division of assets and staff. He said the promotion of JBT teachers to the posts of Central Head Teacher and Head Teacher had not been scrapped. There was no move to change the existing promotion quota of JBT and TGTs. |
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Rainwater harvesting made compulsory
Shimla, December 26 The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department today issued fresh orders regarding strict implementation of the rainwater harvesting structure. The water collected from rain would be used for toilet and washing purposes so that the scarce fresh water resources are not put under increasing pressure. The orders from the Director, TCP, have been sent to the Deputy Commissioners, Special Area Development Authorities (SADA), all municipal councils and the TCP officials all over the state. “There should be strict implementation of the government directives of making rainwater harvesting compulsory and a completion certificate and NOC for getting electricity and water connections only be given on this basis,” reads the directive. Besides, the building plan would not be approved by the TCP and other agencies concerned till provision is made for rainwater harvesting. The TCP for the first time has also specified that the size of the storage tank would be determined on the basis of the rooftop area. According to this, 1 sq mt of rooftop should have 20 litres of rainwater, so a house having 200 sq mts rooftop would have to make provision for a 2,000-litre water tank. However, even the fresh directive does not specify whether the tank should be on the rooftop or the ground. “This is still a debatable issue on which consensus has not emerged though majority is in favour of storage tank on the floor rather than roof as it is safer,” said a senior official. In order to ensure that there is strict monitoring of the directive, the Director, TCP, has fixed the day of every month as the date when the compliance report as far as rainwater harvesting structures is concerned should be sent to the Superintending Engineer (IPH) concerned as well as his office. Though the government had, for the first time, made rainwater harvesting mandatory in July, 1999, the concept did not catch the fancy of the people in a big way. However, with efforts for stricter implementation, whereby provision has to be made in the construction plan for receiving approval from the TCP and other agencies, the idea is picking up. |
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Plan to bring 90,000 hectares under irrigation
Dharamsala, December 26 Stating this while replying to a discussion on the drought situation in the Vidhan Sabha raised by Major Vijai Mankotia (Cong) and Mr K.D. Dharmani (BJP), Mr Sat Mahajan, Revenue Minister, said the government had formulated a Rs 688-crore project to bring 90,000 hectares of land under irrigation by March, 2009. It would bring a seachange in the fortunes of farmers which had been oscillating between drought and deluge. He said the outdated relief manual required a thorough review to take the ground realities into account and ensure liberal assistance to farmers whose crops were damaged due to drought and other calamities. Participating in the debate, the members expressed concern over the change in climatic conditions due to environmental degradation and called for steps to reverse the dangerous trend. Initiating the debate, Major Mankotia suggested inter-linking of major rivers like the Beas, the Sutlej and the Ravi to meet the requirement of farmers. He also suggested raising of rainwater harvesting structures for the purpose. He said if the Pong Dam project could bring economic boom in Rajasthan why the rivers flowing through the state should not be tapped to irrigate the fields. Mr Dharmani said lack of rain over the past three months had led to crop failure as the seed had not germinated. He said the government had not taken any steps to deal with the situation, particularly the shortage of fodder. Mr P.K. Dhumal, former Chief Minister, suggested setting up of a separate agency for rainwater harvesting programme which was not making much headway due to multiplicity of departments involved in the implementation of schemes. He underlined the need to make rainwater harvesting structures essential in buildings to be constructed in rural areas. He said such steps had become necessary as the entire weather pattern had gone haywire and the shortage of water was the main fallout of it. Mr Sujan Singh Pathania (Cong) called for construction of check dams on nullahs across the state, besides formulating a comprehensive plan to deal with the menace of monkeys and wild boars which were destroying crops. Mr I.D. Dhiman (BJP) lamented the government had not even bothered to conduct a survey to assess the drought situation. Mr Harbans Rana, Mr Damodar Das, Mr Ramesh Dhwala, Dr Rajiv Bindal, Mr Surinder Bhardwaj, Mr Surinder Thakur and Mrs Anita Verma also participated in the debate. |
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BJP wins both seats in Bharmour
Chamba, December 26 This showed that the BJP had penetrated into the tribal areas, which were understood to be the stronghold of the Congress since Independence. A party spokesman of the Bharatiya Janata Party, confirmed here today that the Khani Zila Parishad seat was won by Inder Kumar who got 6235 votes out of total 13,393 votes. From Pulan Zila Parishad ward, Mrs Leela Sharma, wife of former BJP MLA Tulsi Ram, won the seat getting 5370 votes out of total 8248 votes. |
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Fleecing adds to woes of labourers Baddi, December 26 This has reportedly led the industrial workers to migrate to other places despite availability of ample work here. The District Food and Civil Supplies Officer, Mr Yadvinder Pal, said the industrial workers should get a temporary ration card made. This would ensure them supply of kerosene at government-fixed rates. The temporary card could be renewed every six months. Further, the industrial units could also get these cards made for their workers and they would be ensured supply of kerosene in the unit itself. He said the Union Government was weighing the pros and cons of bringing foodgrains too under the provision of the fair price shops for the temporary ration card holders. He said since the lone post of inspector was lying vacant for the past several months, work in this regard had been affected.
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4 killed in accident
Shimla, December 26 According to information received, the accident took place at 1.30 a.m, killing four persons on the spot. They were returning in a Toyota Qualis (HP-01-3352)after attending the Bhunda mahayagya held in Rohru area yesterday. The deceased are Sanjeev Kumar, Darshan Devi, Namit and Sandeep Kumar. The driver of the vehicle, Lalit has been admitted to hospital with serious injuries. The deceased belong to the Lower Koti area. |
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2 killed as vehicle falls into gorge
Chamba, December 26 The driver, Krishan Kumar, died on the spot, while Pawan Kumar succumbed to his injuries in hospital. There were only two occupants in the vehicle. The police, after a post-mortem examination, handed over the bodies to their relatives. The administration provided relief of Rs 5,000 each to kin of the deceased.
— PTI |
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10 tourists hurt in road mishap
Shimla, December 26 According to the police, the accident took place when the Scorpio skidded off the road due to frost on the road at the Thanda nullah, near Kufri. Owing to a thick layer of frost on the road, the driver could not negotiate the vehicles as it skidded off the road. All the 10 passengers, who sustained injuries, have been admitted to Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) for treatment. The tourists hailed from Delhi and Nangal. |
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