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Ex-chief parliamentary secretaries file reply before EC
Villagers protest against airport project
Villagers rue petty award in lieu of land
40 in race for director’s post in nigam
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Cold conditions revive in HP
Bank staff suspended for fraud
College gets notice for encroachment
BJP stages walkout over conversion issue
Unemployed teachers want posts filled
Apple wine in tetrapack soon
Decomposed body found
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Ex-chief parliamentary secretaries file reply before EC
Shimla, March 13 The Congress legislators gave their reply in response to the notice issued on January 9. The chief whip of the BJP, Mr Ravinder Ravi, had filed a petition before the Governor, Mr V.S. Kokje, demanding the disqualification of these legislators for holding the office of profit. In their reply, they said the office of the Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and the Parliamentary Secretaries was covered under Section 3(d) of the HP Legislative Assembly Member (removal of disqualification) Act, 1971, and, therefore, the holder of such office is protected by the statutory provisions. The legislators are Ms Anita Verma, Mr Harbhajan Singh Bhajji, Mr Harshwardhan Singh, Mr Tek Chand Dogra, Mr Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Mr Lajja Ram and Dr Prem, all Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, and Mr Sudhir Sharma, Mr Jagat Singh Negi, Mr Surinder Kaku and Mr Raghubir Singh, all Parliamentary Secretaries. Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, another Parliamentary Secretary, had filed his reply last week. They stated that the petition of the BJP was not maintainable in view of Section 3 of the Act that protects the members of the Assembly from disqualification in case he holds any office of profit. The legislators said the matter was sub-judice as the state government had filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court, seeking relief against the decision of the High Court. They cited examples of states, including the BJP-ruled Rajasthan, where there are Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries. |
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Villagers protest against airport project
Kangra, March 13 All four panchayats under which the above said villages unanimously resolved fall resolved that the government should abandon the proposed airport there. Villagers of more than 24 villages of these four panchayats argue if the airport would lead to their uprooting from villages and deprived of livelihood. Ms Omi Devi, village pradhan of Ganoote, Mohinder Singh, village pradhan, Gurukaal, Mr Rakesh Choudary, Zila parishad member, and Ms Sarita Devi, Block Samiti member, opposed the government proposal saying the entire area had fertile agricultural land and people were depended on farming and the airport would leave them sans a living. The protesting villagers came on to streets on Friday last when a team of officers headed by Mr Vikas Labroo, District Tourism Officer, who is the nodal officer of the project, SDM, Dehra, Mr M.L. Sharma, the DFO and officers of the PWD reached the site for inspection and a meeting in the Rest house. The people’s protest made the team to go back without holding the meeting. According to sources, the government plans to acquire 698 hectares of land which would dislodge 4000 residents of the area. The protesting residents held a meeting which was attended by many people, including women, and formed an action committee to start a peaceful agitation against the airport move. Mr Susheel Choudary and Mr Bishan Dass were chosen president and vice-president of the Action Committee, respectively. Mr Susheel Choudary said that they would not allow the government to construct the airport and if the government persisted the villagers would fight the issue. The action committee asked Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to reconsider the decision and direct the officers concerned to stop the survey of the area. Dehra SDM M.L. Sharma told The Tribune that the district tourism officer was the nodal officer who has received a letter from the Government of India for the construction of an airport. He said it was a preliminary exercise to know how much land was coming under the project and how many people were being affected. He confirmed the meeting could not be held on last Friday. |
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Villagers rue petty award in lieu of land
Solan, March 13 In a case of recent land acquisition at Kamli near Parwanoo, the villagers were granted compensation at the rate of Rs 3.52 lakh per bigha while the land was sold at Rs 2. 85 crore per bigha. Even the reserve money fixed for this auction was Rs 1.91 crore per bigha. In another case, 800 bighas of land is being acquired from Mandala for which a compensation of Rs 7 lakh per bigha has been announced. Villagers, while decrying this award, rue that when the HIMUDA had sold land at Rs 3.31 crore per bigha at Baddi, why had they been handed out such a petty amount. Terming it as contrary to their interests, the villagers said a fair amount of at least Rs 20 lakh per bigha should be fixed. Another 1,000 bighas is proposed to be acquired from the adjoining Kalujhinda village. Scores of families here fear becoming landless after this acquisition. Villagers lamented that their attempts to oppose this acquisition led the authorities to browbeat them to bring them under regular acquisition. The HIMUDA is planning to auction this acquired land for setting up an educational institute at Kalujhinda and a housing colony at Mandala. Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Kumar, however, said it would be ensured that no one was left landless and if the acquisition was mandatory, alternative land would be provided to the affected families. The Land Acquisition Collector said the process of acquisition was yet to be finalized and the objections of the affected parties were being heard.
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40 in race for director’s post in nigam
Shimla, March 13 According to sources, the government had initially sent the names of three state administrative services officers, Mr
J.R. Gazta, Mr Balbir Tegta and Mr T.D. Negi. Later, the names of three IAS officers, Mr Jagdish Sharma, Mr Onkar Sharma and Mr
R.D. Dhiman, were also forwarded. The state government, which has a 25 per cent equity in the company, maintains that it was entitled to have at least one or two directors in the five-member board. Further, in case the Director (Personnel) is not taken from the state cadre, it will not have any representation in the Board of Directors. The present incumbent, Mr Tarun Kapoor, who was appointed to the post for a five-year term in 2001, is from the state IAS cadre. The Centre had made an exception and allowed him to retain his cadre. It was a one-time dispensation. As per the rules, an officer has to quit his parent cadre to take up such assignments in the public sector undertaking. Besides applicants from various central public undertakings and state utilities, there are internal candidates. They include Mr
S.C. Padhy, General Manager, Mr S.K. Biswas, Additional General Manager, Mr
A.K. Mukherjee and Mr D.P. Kaushal, both Deputy General Managers, and Mr
P.S.R. Murty, Company Secretary. The term of Mr Kapoor is to be completed in December 2006 but the state wants him back and another officer from the state IAS cadre appointed in his place. The state government had early this year tried its best to get Mr
J.P. Negi, Principal Secretary, Power, appointed Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the nigam. However, the PESB picked Mr
H.K. Sharma, the then Director (Civil), for the top post. Sources point out that since the selection committee has a representative each from the Union Ministry of Power and nigam, the state could not do much in the matter. Its choice of next incumbent will entirely depend on the attitude of the Centre. |
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Shimla, March 13 Dalhousie in Chamba district was experiencing mild snowfall and was covered under a thin layer of snow. The state capital, Shimla, was lashed by a hailstorm followed by heavy showers causing a sharp fall in the day temperature which dipped to 4.7 degrees. Icy winds swept the region making people shiver even in heavy woollens. The town recorded 35 mm of rains till this evening. Palampur and Dharamsala in Kangra district were also lashed by a thunderstorm followed by hail and rain badly disrupting normal life. Icy winds lashed the region forcing people to remain indoors. The Dhauladhar ranges, overlooking the lush green Kangra valley, experienced fresh snowfall, creating severe cold wave conditions in the adjoining valley areas. The Chamba town and adjoining areas were lashed by showers while higher reaches in the district as also the tribal Pangi valley had moderate snowfall. The mid hills of Solan, Sirmaur, Kangra and Mandi also experienced moderate rains while the weather remained mainly clear in the tribal Lahaul and Spiti valley. The minimum night temperature dropped to -15.3°C at Patsed while it hovered around the freezing point at Sissu, Dhundi and other places. The mighty Rohtang Pass, which experienced snowfall during the past three days, had some respite from snowfall but dark convective clouds overcast the sky with weatherman predicting rains or snow during the next 24 hours. — PTI
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Bank staff suspended for fraud
Kulu, March 13 Sources said the alleged tempering in accounts and raising of fake loans against customers’ fixed deposits were done by the officers and staff of the bank during the year 2005-2006 and funds worth Rs 21.5 lakh were misappropriated. When asked about the embezzlement, the Zonal Manager of the bank advised this correspondent to contact the head office in Dharamsala. The Managing Director of the bank, Mr Subhash Kalsotra, when contacted on telephone, told this correspondent that the fraud had been detected on a complaint and the management had put the whole staff of the bank under suspension. The staff, including Senior Manager Kehar Singh Thakur, Officer (Grade-II) Tilak Raj, senior clerk Roop Lal, Ravi Dutt and Inder Singh, was placed under suspension today, he added. Mr Subhash revealed that Rs 15 lakh had been recovered from the bank officials. The sources revealed that the alleged fraud was just tempering of documents and using of FDRs of the customers to raise fake loans. The cheques and demand drafts received by the bank for realisation and collection were also allegedly manipulated and the funds misused. Though such frauds did not render loss to the customers but the bank’s money was misutilised for personal gains, it was alleged. The modus operandi of the alleged officers and subordinates was that they had been using customers’ FDRs for raising loans. The bank’s sanctioning authorities sanctioned the loans against FDRs’ security whereas the FDRs were returned to the customers after the loans were sanctioned and money withdrawn. |
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College gets notice for encroachment
Mandi, March 13 Talking to The Tribune today, the Subdivisional Officer (Civil), Mr Pankaj Rai, said the college management had been asked to file the reply by March 17 and the administration would take action in this regard under Section 163, HP Land Revenue Act. Interestingly, the Dental College has kept the land, which it had got on lease from the government, as vacant, but it has encroached on the surrounding land that has shrunk the venue of the Nalwar cattle fair by over 1,600 square metres, revealed the officials. In another case, the administration has removed the encroachments done by the two ragpickers worth 14 biswas in Jawahar Park, the major cultural venue of the town, revealed officials. Though the Managing Director of the college could not be contacted, insiders said they had apprised the management of the notice. Mr Rai, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Sundernagar Municipal Council also, said over 100 encroachments had been removed and cases registered in the sub-division in the recent drive. Hailing the anti-encroachment drive as step in the right direction, local residents said the encroachments had become a hazard on the highway and other areas in the town over the years. “We support it as it has taught a lesson to others as well,” commented a councillor.
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BJP stages walkout over conversion issue
Shimla, March 13 The issue came up during the question hour when Mr Thakur told the House that no incident of forcible religious conversions had come to light in the state in the recent past though the CID wing of the police had reported in 2002 that as many as 548 persons had converted to different religion. Out of these maximum number of 450 conversions took place in Shimla district, followed by 79 in Kinnaur,10 in Mandi and four in Kulu. However, 300 of these persons reconverted to Hindu religion later. Mr Jai Ram Thakur, who raised the issue, alleged that the minister was misleading the House as numerous cases of forcible conversions had come to light in many districts. He was joined by Mr
P.K. Dhumal, leader of the BJP legislative group, who cited the instance of Andora village in Una district where mass conversions took place recently but social pressure forced these persons to reconvert to their original religion. Dr Bindal (BJP) said that a large number of Nepalese had been converted and Christian missionaries had set up regular training centres in Kulu and Solan. |
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Unemployed teachers want posts filled
Nurpur, March 13 In a statement issued here yesterday, Mr Sushil Kaushal, state president of the association, said the government had already announced in the assembly on March 31, 2005, that it was filling 800 vacant posts of TGT for which the Finance Department had given its nod. After that the Chief Minister announced in the Assembly on August 9 last year that the government would fill 50 per cent posts through Public Service Commission and 50 per cent through batchwise. “But so far nothing has been done to fill vacant posts of TGT,” he lamented. Mr Kaushal said the government had again announced to fill 800 posts of TGT in the Budget proposals recently presented in the Assembly by the Chief Minister for the current fiscal year. He urged the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to honour his announcements and fill the vacant posts sanctioned by the Finance Department within the scheduled period. |
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Apple wine in tetrapack soon Parwanoo, March 13 With this, the HPMC has become the first agency to market fruit wine in “Tetrapack” in the country. Explaining the concept behind this new technology, HPMC Managing Director
C.R.B. Lalit said besides making the product attractive it would boost sales by targeting tourists, especially foreigners who visited the state in large numbers. The corporation would initially launch “Tetrapacks” of apple and plum wines in the market. These wines would be manufactured at the local HPMC plant where additional facilities had been created for the purpose. These products would reach the market by the first quarter of this year, the MD said. Equipment worth Rs 25 lakh for preserving wines had been given by Tetrapack Group, which monopolises the world market in packaging. Talks were under way with a Mauritius-based company for procuring export orders. The HPMC would also try to tap the European market where fruit wines were popular, he said. The corporation would initially manufacture 5,000 trays of apple and plum wines. Later, diversification to other fruits like pear, peach, strawberry, wild apricot, etc. was also planned.
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Decomposed body found
Nahan, March 13 A police party, led by Station House Officer Khazana Ram, left for Puruwala village after getting a phone call from panchayat pradhan Baljeet Singh Nagra regarding a body laying under the cover of grass near a bridge on the Nahan-Paonta road. After recovering the body, which was still to be identified, the police sent it for a post-mortem examination. According to villagers, they reportedly informed the Majra police on last Tuesday regarding a pair of sandals and blood spots on the bridge, near Puruwala village. The police could not locate the body that day. |
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Class XI paper cancelled
Kangra, March 13 Mr B.R. Rahi, Chairman of the board, said this evening that the three officers were not in a position to control the examination centre which resulted in the cancellation of the paper today. He said that the board would take appropriate action against the three officials only after a detailed report was received. |
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Holidays on Sept 29, Oct 24
Shimla, March 13 All government offices, boards and corporations and educational institutions will remain closed on the two days within the limits of the Municipal Corporation of Shimla. |
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Dharamsala session cost Rs 86.17 lakh
Shimla, March 13 Giving this information, the Chief Minister informed the House that Rs 13.89 lakh was spent on travelling and daily expenses of the employees and officers. Besides, Rs 55.52 lakh was spent on creating the required infrastructure for holding the session. |
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Illicit liquor seized
Baddi, March 13 The two occupants of car, Kuldeep Singh from Kalka and Joginder Singh from Sangrur, were arrested. A case under the Excise Act has been registered. OC
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