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Tribal people block highway
Buses stranded on the Hindustan-Tibet road that was blocked by tribal people in protest against the police firing at Karcham on Saturday.
— Photo by writer
Corder to revive pheasant breeding
An example of
official apathy
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Award for Dalai Lama
Earthquake rocks Mandi areas
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Tribal people block highway
Wangtoo (Kannaur), December 10 Early in the morning today, the police arrested Ranjit Negi, an IAS-turned environmentalist, Sushil Sana, president of the Khab-Shahso Sangarsh Samiti, and two other tribal persons for blocking the road. The arrested persons are likely to be produced before the District and Sessions Court on Monday, said a senior official of the district administration. Hundreds of private vehicles, buses and vehicles of the Army were stranded on the road. People had to trek for kilometers to go on either side of the road blockade to reach their destinations. There were also reports of minor cane-charge on the tribal people in which at least two persons were injured. However, the district authorities refuted the allegations and said they had not resorted to cane-charge but there was just a scuffle between a few people and the police when they tried to forcibly cross the police barricades. Meanwhile, the local deity rejected the coming up of the 1000 MW Karcham-Wangtoo hydro-electricity project in the area and demanded from the government to cancel the memorandum of understanding between the Jaypees and the government after which private company had initiated construction work on this mega project. The tribal people and the local deity had also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident of police firing on the innocent tribal people who were peacefully protesting against the project. While talking to The Tribune, Shyam Sunder Negi, president of the Karcham-Wangtoo Sangarsh Samiti, alleged that the police fired shots at the peacefully protesting tribal people. He said 50 shots were fired during the clash. Later in the evening, the local deity called off the protest for the moment due to hostile weather conditions but affirmed that they would not allow the project to come up in the area at any cost. It was raining since early morning and the mercury level was almost at zero-level at the time when the people seized the road. |
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CPI flays police firing
Bilaspur, December 10 The party alleged that the Chief Minister was ignoring even genuine grievances of the people and was standing on prestige whereas he should have invited people for talks and should have satisfied them before going ahead with the project being opposed by local people. The two-day convention of the state CPI here today ended after adopting a unanimous resolution demanding resignation of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for having “failed” to take local people into confidence. The meeting also gave a call to all trade unions affiliated to the CPI to join the nationwide strike on December 14 against privatisation of the pension fund, reduction of interest on small savings, GPF and EPF, and also against rising prices and unemployment.
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CPM demands probe Shimla, December 10 Mr Rakesh Singha, secretary of the party, has demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter which should not only investigate the firing incident but also cover the issues arising due to the contravention of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the Jaypee Company for the 300 MW Baspa-II project. He said the people of Kinnaur had suffered a lot due to the construction of the Baspa project and it was because of this that they were opposing the decision to award the 1,000-MW Karcham-Wangtu project to it. He alleged that both Dhumal and the Congress regimes had been going out of the way to help the private company by ignoring the concerns of the locals.
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Corder to revive pheasant breeding Shimla, December 10 It has been in doldrums ever since the forest department, for reasons best known to it, decided engage another consultant in place of Mr Corder, who about two years ago was successfully guiding programme. He was removed despite the breakthrough achieved in breeding of the endangered western tragopan which was bred in captivity for the first time in the world. However, the move fell flat as the search committee, comprising experts of the Central Zoo Authority and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, set up to select a new consultant once again recommended the name of Mr Corder much to the embarrassment of the department. Not only that, it asserted that Mr Corder had done a good job and he was the best available expert for the job. In this process more than 18 months were lost which brought the programme to a standstill. The core group set up to guide the programme virtually became defunct. In fact, the Central Zoo Authority had stopped releasing the funds meant for the programme due to tardy pace of work. Mr Ashok Thakur , Principal Secretary, Forest, said the government had accepted the recommendation of the search committee and once again decided to engage Mr Corder for a period of three years. While Mr Corder would take care of the captive breeding, Mr Samar Singh, president of the India Chapter of the World Pheasants Association, will look after in situ conservation programme. He said the meeting of the core group could not be held due to the dispute over the appointment of the consultant. Mr Corder was a member of the core group. A meeting of the group would shortly be convened to put the programme back on the track. While recommending the name of Mr Corder the committee had also pointed out that the programme had suffered because of the "shifting of experienced and trained staff". It remains to be seen whether the department acts on the recommendation of the committee.
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An example of
official apathy
Kangra, December 10 The town had been craving for an auditorium or a multipurpose hall in view of an increase in the number of institutions, which included a Polytechnic College, Medical College, MCM DAV College, oilseed station and Krishi Vigyan Kendra under CSK Agricultural University, Palampur. Other socio-cultural organisations too were in need of an auditorium to hold seminars, cultural and other programmes. An auditorium with a seating capacity of 500, first of its kind in this district, was constructed on the Polytechnic College premises. Unfortunately the auditorium equipped with modern amenities was left uncared for by the authorities for lack of funds. The building, just within six years of its inauguration, is in a pathetic condition. The main hall leaks. Rainwater gets accumulated on the roof channels following blockage with dry leaves. The board ceiling has got damaged badly. The leaking water flows into the gallery and the floor of the hall, which look flooded. Intellectuals and senior residents expressed deep resentment over the dilapidated condition of this public property and demanded intervention of the Chief Minister to protect this asset of the town. In August this year, following a report in The Tribune, the Director, Technical Education, Mr K.R. Bharti, asked the Principal of the college to submit an estimate for carrying out the repairs of the hall, but things did not move further even after five months of the direction. When contacted, the Principal of Polytechnic College, Mr H.K. Bhatti, told The Tribune that the college had no funds for the maintenance of the auditorium. He said income generated from this hall was being deposited in government head so money for the maintenance of the hall could not be withdrawn from that head. He said following the directions of the Director, Technical Education, he had asked the PWD authorities to provide them an estimate for seeking funds from the Directorate, but the PWD, despite repeated reminders did not provide us with they estimate. Local residents demanded that if the state government or the Technical Education Department failed to maintain the auditorium, it should be handed over to a Kangra-based registered NGO for its proper maintenance and use before the building crumbled down. |
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Kangra December 10 The award was presented to the Dalai Lama by the President of Russian Republic of Kalmykia, Mr Kirsan Illumjhinov, at Mcleodganj. The Dalai Lama was chosen for this award for his outstanding contribution in field of the spiritual revival and prosperity of the republic. — OC
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Earthquake rocks Mandi areas
Shimla, December 10 The first tremor was felt at 1.30 p.m. and lasted about 15 seconds, while the other was felt 20 minutes later, forcing people to flee their homes into open places. No loss of life and property has been reported from anywhere in the district due to the quake, official sources said.
— UNI |
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The Hindustan-Tibet road was blocked by tribal people for the day here today in protest against the police atrocities in which at least five tribal persons were injured in the district on Saturday.
