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Shimla heritage Selja’s priority
Minister of State for Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation Ms Selja and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh before the national conference of state ministers and secretaries in Shimla on Wednesday. — Photo by Anil Dayal
Cong trying to benefit own MPs: Vajpayee
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Panchayats to have more power: Aiyer
Six killed as vehicle falls into gorge
Gaurav was trying to avoid creditors: police
Government to regularise daily wage workers
Yol Fort inaugurated
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Shimla heritage Selja’s priority
Shimla, May 31 Talking to mediapersons, she said Rs 87 crore had already been disbursed under JNNURM as proposals from five mission cities, including Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Surat, Bhopal and Pune, had already been approved. She was in the town to preside over the national conference of state ministers and secretaries on urban poverty alleviation. "I assure you that my ministry will clear on priority any scheme for preserving the heritage of historic town of Shimla," she said. The Rs 5,000 crore JNNURM would help the local bodies in a big way as they would be in a position to levy user charges, which they needed to improve their financial health. Ms Selja said due to certain problems and poor implementation of the Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) in some states, the Centre was keen to give it a new shape before the start of the 11th Five-Year Plan in 2007. "A new and revised policy on urban street vendors will be announced soon. "I am of the opinion that the street vendors must be given some legality, be it in the form of an identity card, so that their exploitation at the hands of the local bodies, the police or anyone else can be stopped," she said. She said these vendors would be given earmarked spaces where they would be allowed to sit on specific days for fixed hours so that they would not face harassment from various agencies. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said under the SJSRY, the present unit cost under self employment programme should be enhanced from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1lakh and subsidy component be raised from Rs 7,500 to Rs 15,000. "The norms for the Centrally sponsored schemes need to be different for the special category states because of the practical problems faced by them," he said. The state Urban Development Minister, Mr Kaul Singh Thakur, said there was need to amend the Constitutional provisions as far as exempting Central government properties from property tax was concerned as the urban local bodies maintain civic services without being compensated. Ministers from Punjab, Gujarat and Orissa also
spoke.
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No-construction zone in Shimla: CM
Shimla, May 31 This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, while speaking at a national conference of state ministers and secretaries on poverty alleviation organised by the Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation here today. “We want that the old British time Shimla is preserved and for this we will declare certain portions as no-construction zone, barring reconstruction of the buildings and that too in the plinth area only,” said Virbhadra Singh. He said after the completion of the third phase in new
Shimla, a complete ban on constructions would be imposed there. The Chief Minister said that in order to decongest the capital town and ensure planned growth, new townships would be developed in areas like Shoghi, Mashobra, Junga, Ghannati, Kufri and Fagu. “Before the urban poor, some of whom have been living here since decades, are asked to vacate, the government will make shelters for them,” he said.
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Cong trying to benefit own MPs: Vajpayee
Prini (Kulu), May 31 Mr Vajpayee landed at the Bhuntar airport around 8 am here today for his summer sojourn. When asked to comment on the issue of the President’s referring back the “office of profit” Bill to Parliament, he said the government should seriously think over the issue. On the issue of the OBC quota, he endorsed the BJP national executive stand and said the BJP supported the quota for the OBC, but it should be a “single generation” reservation so that the provision did not benefit the creamy layer only. Mr Vajpayee sprang a surprise for the Kullu police and the special protection guards when he stopped his car at the heritage village resort, run by Mr Jatinder Thakur, son of Mr Chander Sen Thakur, BJP general secretary, near Sarsai on the Naggar-Manali left bank road. He stepped out of the car and went into the resort to the surprise of its owner. He stayed there for 30 minutes. He then left for
Prini.
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Panchayats to have more power: Aiyer
Nurpur, May 31 Addressing a press conference here last evening on the last day of his four-day visit to the state, he said in a roundtable conference of Panchayati Raj Ministers of all states in 2004, 27 guidelines had been suggested to ensure transparency and accountability in the PRIs. Talking on the joint documentary statement signed by him on behalf of Central Government and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday Mr Aiyer claimed that this document would bring revolutionary changes in the panchayati raj system under the provisions of the 73rd constitutional amendment in Himachal Pradesh. “The PRIs will get more financial and administrative powers and act more effectively in rural development,” he claimed.
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Six killed as vehicle falls into gorge
Shimla, May 31 The accident occurred at Khaltu Nullah, near Kotkhai area of the district, at about 5 pm, killing six people on the spot and seriously injuring another. The police said the cause of the accident was not immediately known, adding that senior officials have rushed to the spot to supervise relief and rescue operations, which were still continuing. The injured person has been referred to the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital here.
— UNI
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Gaurav was trying to avoid creditors: police
Hamirpur, May 31 Police sources said Gaurav, who did not have a regular source of income, had borrowed a large amount of money to buy a car and when the creditors started pressing for the loan instalments, he issued a fake cheques to his grandfather, asking him to withdraw money and pay back the creditors. A senior police official said, “He followed Swami Ramdev to Chandigarh and then to Hamirpur only to avoid going home as he was sure that his grandfather must have realised that the cheques were fake and he would be pulled up for it when he returned home.” “He had come to Hamirpur thinking that he would stay here for only a day or two so that his grandfather’s anger subsides,” he added. A special team of the Hamirpur police found that he had done similar things even in the past. The police also recovered over 70 blank fake ID cards of a leading English daily from Gaurav’s possession. One such filled-up fake card, which said Gaurav was a press correspondent working at Jalandhar, was recovered from his possession when he was arrested at Hamirpur.
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Government to regularise daily wage workers
Shimla, May 31 This was announced by Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, while addressing a meeting of the Contractual Employees Union here last evening. He said those who fulfilled the eligibility criterion on would be regularised. The Chief Minister said the government was committed to safeguard the interests of its employees and it had provided them various financial benefits due to them from time to time. The recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission had been implemented which cost the state exchequer Rs 840 crore. Himachal Pradesh was one of the few selected states which had merged the 50 per cent dearness allowance in the basic salary. The regularisation of daily-waged employees who had completed eight years of minimum service was in progress.
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Yol Fort inaugurated
Dharamsala, May 31 The erstwhile Yol Fort was a small memorial existing at the Nabha-Mall Road junction inside the cantonment. It was constructed in 1958 by 81 Infantry Brigade (Patiala) as a memorial to the martyrs of units serving in Yol Cantonment. When the raising of 9 Corps commenced in the cantonment last year, it was found to be in a highly dilapidated state. The newly set-up Rising star Museum was also inaugurated on the occasion.
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Union Minister of State for Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation Ms Selja today said with the help of reforms under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the local bodies would be able to raise loans and levy user charges to improve their financial health.
