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4 killed, 3 hurt in Kol Dam mishap
Truck operators’ clash: CM orders probe
Maheshwar Singh locks horns with CM on ski village
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Virbhadra failed to improve financial health of state: BJP
Virbhadra rubbishes BJP chargesheet
Welfare of employees top priority: CM
No cut in university grant, says CM
Hotel manager booked for fraud
Students threaten agitation
Remove anomaly in NPA, demand vets
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4 killed, 3 hurt in Kol Dam mishap
Sundernagar, March 6 Four persons died on the spot and three were admitted to Civil Hospital, Sundernagar, in a serious condition. The deceased were identified as Kamlesh (24) Raj Kumar (21) both from Jharkhand, Nand Lal ( 25) from Sundernagar and Nimmudin (25) from Bihar. The three persons admitted to Sundernagar hospital are Sikander (27) and Ashok (25), both from Jharkahand, and Bhup Singh (Maloh village near Sundernagar). According to some labourers, it was a matter of chance that only these persons were working on the site as others had left for lunch. Following the mishap, hundreds of workers assembled around the site and started shouting at officers of the National Thermal Power Corporation. Some workers were accusing the project authorities of not adhering to safety guidelines. Mr Vijay Kumar, joint secretary, CITU who is also working at the Kol Dam site, blamed the authorities for the accident. He pointed out that the desilting chamber was being constructed without a foundation. According to the police, no case of negligence had been registered yet but investigations were in progress. According to an official spokesman of the NTPC, a high-level committee would be constituted to probe the cause of the accident. It was further stated that the victims' kin would be given compensation as early as possible and the NTPC would bear the expenses of medical treatment of those injured. |
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Truck operators’ clash: CM orders probe
Shimla, March 6 Giving details of the incident in the Vidhan Sabha on Saturday, he said the Nangal Truck Operators Union had opened an office at Golthai and the following day the Bilaspur Truck Operators Society had a function there in connection with the opening of the office. However, many truck operators of the Nangal Truck Union gathered at the venue and a scuffle took place between them the members of two unions in which some persons were injured. Thereafter some functionaries of the Bilaspur Truck Union went to the police post Golthai demanding shifting of the office of the Nangal Truck Union. They also blocked road by parking trucks across it. In the meantime more than 1000 people came from the Nangal side and started quarrel with the gathering. When the policemen present there tried to intervene the Nangal mob started throwing stones and bottles at them. The policemen tried to resist with lathis but the mob caught Inspector Puran Chand and ASI Thakur Das and beat them with lathis and stones. Thereafter, they move towards the police chowki. The policemen went to the chowki and brought rifles and fired a few rounds to save the chowki. The mob dispersed thereafter. Twelve policemen were injured in the incident and a police bus was damaged. More police force had been sent at Golthai. It has been learnt that a bus of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation and five trucks of Himachal had been burnt at Anandpur Sahib and one person Mr Jarnail Singh of Nangal, who was injured in the incident, succumbed to his injuries. Three cases had been registered under various Sections of the IPC in connection with the incident. The Punjab Police had also initiated action and arrested 22 persons in Ropar district for burning and damaging trucks and a bus of Himachal. The DIG Police, Central Range and the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police of Bilaspur were camping at the place of incident. The situation is tense but under control. |
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Maheshwar Singh locks horns with CM on ski village
Mandi, March 6 Mr Maheshwar Singh charged Mr Virbhadra Singh of belittling the importance of the “dev sanskriti” by commenting on devtas more particularly on the Lord Raghunath, of which he was a kardar. Mr. Maheshwar Singh said he was mobilising people and would oppose the project at the Tapobhumi of the devtas as the Dharam Sansad of the Kulu devtas had given their verdict against the project. “For him it might be a question of the environment as he had stated in the media,but it is a matter of the faith and dev sanskriti for me”, Mr. Maheshwar Singh asserted. “The ski village of foreign company also violates Section 118 of the Act which forbids the selling of land to the non-Himachalis in the state. The village will also deal a body -blow to the local culture”, he feared. Mr. Virbhadra Singh had told reporters in Kulu on Friday that the government would not only set up the ski village in Manali to develop tourism, but also at the other suitable sites in the state. He would go by the merits and demerits of the DPR that the company would submit to the government and not by the verdict of the dharam sansad, which did not presents a majority decision of the devtas as many important devtas had not participated in the conclave at Naggar on February 16. On Mr Virbhadra ’s proposed trust of Lord Raghunath temple and charge of the misuse of devsanskirit, Mr. Maheshwar cited a 1942 court judgement claiming the temple was a private place of worship of his family. |
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Virbhadra failed to improve
Shimla, March 6 Addressing BJP leaders and workers from all over the state, who staged a dharna outside the Assembly here today, he said people were fed up with the Congress misrule in the state and had already made up their mind to vote for the BJP. “Ministers in the Virbhadra government are facing serious corruption charges while the state is reeling under the impact of a severe financial crisis,” he alleged. Mr Verma, who is the party in charge of Himachal Pradesh, said the people were already realising the mistake they made by giving mandate to the Congress as development work had practically come to a standstill. “When they compare the work done during the rule of Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal and Mr Virbhadra Singh, they realise their folly as the Central Government had given very little financial assistance and projects to the hill state. “The people of the capital should help the BJP start its victory march by winning the Municipal Corporation elections due next year, to be followed by the Assembly elections two years later,” he appealed to the people. Seeing the dismal performance of the UPA government at the Centre, it was evident that it too would not last for the entire tenure. He said serious allegations were being levelled not just against ministers but also against the Chief Minister’s office. “A perfect example of this is the manner in which 196 mini and micro hydel projects once cancelled were suddenly restored to the same people,” he said. Mr Verma said the Centre had completely failed to check the steep price rise. “Development work in the state has come to a standstill and despite the Congress being in power at the Centre, no financial help was extended to the state,” he said. Addressing the party workers, Mr Dhumal said the financial position of the state had worsened under the Virbhadra regime and no steps had been taken to pull the state out of it. The state BJP chief, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, said by signing the MoU on fiscal reforms with the Centre, the state had virtually blocked all avenues of employment generation. He said, moreover, the Centre had failed to bail the state out of the financial crisis. While admitting that there had been lack of coordination between Mr Shanta Kumar and Mr Dhumal during the last Assembly elections, Mr Verma said all leaders had now been asked to work with unity. He said the lack of coordination could have been one of the reasons for the poor performance of the party in last Assembly elections. This was Mr Verma’s first visit to the state after his appointment as the in charge of the BJP affairs in the state. While denying that there was a virtual cold war between the two rival factions led by Mr Shanta Kumar and Mr Dhumal, he said whatever differences were there in the past had been removed and both leaders were working in close coordination with the state party chief, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj. When asked under whose leadership the party would contest the next Assembly elections, he said it was too early to say that. Mr Verma, however, admitted that on the basis of past experience in certain states like Rajasthan and Bihar he felt that the party fared better if it was made clear as to who would lead the party. He said in case the BJP formed the government in Delhi he would ensure a better deal for apple and other fruit growers of Himachal Pradesh. |
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Virbhadra rubbishes BJP chargesheet
Shimla, March 6 The Chief Minister said he would ask his ministerial colleagues whose names had figured in the charge sheet to respond in a similar manner and if required he might refer the matter in some cases to the
Lokayukta. Visibly upset over the insinuations, Mr Virbhadra Singh said he would hit back with all the might at his command and those making baseless allegations would feel the pain. He said some of the charges like “the Chief Minister's office had become a den of corruption” and that some part of the palace in Junga belonging to his brothers-in-law had been rented out to the NTPC were highly defamatory. He said no part of any palace had been hired by the NTPC in Junga and his brothers-in-law were managing their ancestral property at Khalini in Shimla in their own way. He said he would take further action in the matter after seeking legal opinion. Referring to the allegation of allotment of petrol
stations to Congress leaders, Mr Virbhadra Singh hit back by reminding BJP leaders that it was Mr P.K. Dhumal, a former chief minister, who secured a petrol station for his son which was later cancelled by the Supreme Court. Not only that his son furnished two conflicting domicile certificate to secure the petrol station. He claimed to be a domicile of Himachal Pradesh to become president of the state cricket association and submitted another certificate to claim petrol station in Punjab. He said there was nothing in the charge as nowadays anyone could take a petrol station. In fact, there were a few takers for petrol stations because of a severe competition. Mr Virbhadra Singh said it was interesting to note that Mr Dulo Ram, who headed the committee which framed the charge sheet, had levelled serious allegation of corruption against the Dhumal government. If the charges were true the then BJP government was corrupt. |
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Welfare of employees top priority: CM
Nahan, March 6 The Chief Minister said his government had been considerate towards the genuine demands of its employees and provided benefits due to them in time besides redressing other grievances by according top priority. He said it was under his chief ministership that the state employees were provided benefits and recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission were implemented which provided employees financial benefits worth over Rs 840 crore. The state government had merged 50 per cent DA with the basic pay of the employees, besides sanctioning the instalment of dearness allowances which amounted to financial benefits worth over Rs 410 crore, he added. Mr Virbhadra Singh gave a clarion call to the employees of the state to volunteer their services to the people residing in the remote and difficult areas and contribute towards the development of such areas and people who needed them most. |
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No cut in university grant, says CM
Shimla, March 6 The total grant to the university in 2005-06 was Rs 19.18 crore against which the level of grant calculated for 2006-07 was Rs 21 crore. An entry of Rs 9.32 crore was inadvertently left out which would be corrected forthwith. He said the government was concerned about the affairs of the university. In view of the fiscal stress being faced by the university, it decided to provide an additional grant of Rs 5.20 crore in the current year to meet the committed liabilities which included arrears of salary, dearness allowance and audit fees. |
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Hotel manager booked for fraud
Mandi, March 6 The police launched a manhunt, but has failed to nab the culprit so far. Acting on a tip-off from the calls he had been making to Manali till February 23, the police team returned from Rajsthan yesterday but he remained
untraced. Talking to The Tribune here today after he returned from Rajasthan, the Deputy Superintendent of Police Manali Mr Kushal Sharma said that the culprit probably had entered Gujarat from border of Rajasthan. His address last given to his employer has turned out to be a fake one. But he has stopped calling back now and we are coordinating with the Gujarat and Rajasthan police to nab him", he
added. The police claimed even the name Kaushik Jain appeared to be fake . He was involved in online lotteries and gambling and the satta business associated with the game of cricket as well. "He withdrew money through cheques signed by the owner for making fake investments. He has issued fake cheques to his business partners," the police alleged. He used to operate his business for the past two years. He came to Manali as a labourer about seven years ago and worked as manager at the hotel of the complainant, he added. What has given a new twist to the story is that even his wife ran away from Manali the second day without informing her family members, the police said. But when she was caught and questioned by the police she told them that she had gone to trace out her husband. Later she got an anticipatory bail from the HP high court, the police added. The police said that Mr Jain took the private car of the owner and told him that he was going to Chandigarh and Delhi in connection with some business. He left the car near Chandigarh and told the owner to take the car back. The car was parked as he had told, but the culprit remained untraced so far, police said. |
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Students threaten agitation
Kangra March 6 Anand Sharma, president, SCA of the Regional Centre today expressed deep concern at a meeting of the SCA regarding the deterioration in the situation at the centre. He said there was no regular Director and the posts of the teaching staff were lying vacant. Anand Sharma described it as unfortunate that the centre was devoid of even basic facilities. He said there had been no drinking water facility for the past two months and even power supply had been disrupted. |
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Remove anomaly in NPA, demand vets
Shimla, March 6 In a statement issued here today, press secretary of the association Rajeev Mehta said the government had accepted the genuine demands of the veterinary doctors and now this anomaly should also be removed. “The decision to exclude the NPA from the calculation of DA, TA and retirement benefits, which was being given earlier, had led to lot of resentment among the veterinary doctors,” he said. |
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