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Minister threatens to file defamation suit
BJP to make charge sheet a poll issue
CM: Govt spending Rs 145 cr annually on power subsidy
Another PDS scam in Kangra |
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Himalaya Shiromani award for CM
Cong to move SC for shifting cases against Badal
Senior citizens honoured
22 dog-bite cases in Dharamsala
2 members of vehicle
lifters’ gang held
Prince and Rajesh (sitting), members of a vehicle lifters’ gang, at the Shahpur police station in Kangra on Sunday.
Free ration distributed
Nod to Shimla plan
No to pvt practice
Farmers to protest outside Assembly
Nahan-Paonta road blocked for 6 hrs
Three killed in Kangra
All set for Navratras in Kangra
Free legal aid clinic soon
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Minister threatens to file defamation suit
Shimla, March 18 Addressing a press conference here today, he said it was shocking that senior BJP leaders like
P.K. Dhumal and Jai Ram Thakur had submitted a document to the Governor which was based on street gossip rather than any concrete evidence. Those who framed the charge sheet were not aware of the facts that various incentives for construction of cold stores and other projects were granted by the National Horticulture Board. The Horticulture Department had no role, it only forwarded the case to the board. As such, the charge that the department had provided undue benefits of Rs 10.55 crore to a private company for setting up a controlled atmosphere store was misplaced. Similarly, there was no irregularities in secateurs the department only broke the monopoly of Falco, a Swiss company, and introduced German and Japanese make secateurs which were much cheaper, he said. For instance Falco secateurs cost Rs 1,795, whereas the one provided by German company,
Gardena, was available for Rs 1,231, cheaper by more than Rs 550. Of late some other foreign make secateurs have also entered the domestic market which will further reduce the price. The growers had now a wider choice as there was no binding as far as the government subsidy on farm inputs and implements was concerned. It was being provided on the basis of the price approved in the rate of contract , irrespective of the make, he said. There was no truth in the charge that the state civil supplies corporation was selling medicines at higher rates. Referring to personal charges he said it had been alleged that he owned Kothi number 206 in Sector 2, Panchkula , which was worth Rs 2.5 crore, was false. He said he would wait for two weeks and if there was no response from the BJP leaders, he would serve legal notice for initiating criminal defamation proceedings against them. |
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BJP to make charge sheet a poll issue
Mandi, March 18 The BJP would provide proof if the Congress government ordered a CBI probe into the corruption charges stated in the charge sheet. Thakur said like the CPMT paper leak, Thind episode, Drabla road row and undue favours shown to the Hyderabad-based companies in allotting small hydroelectric projects, the charges mentioned in the charge sheet would also come out to be true if the government ordered a CBI probe. |
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CM: Govt spending Rs 145 cr annually on power subsidy
Nahan, March 18 He dedicated CT Scan facility to the people set up at a cost of Rs 1 crore at the district hospital, inaugurated a vegetable market constructed at a cost of Rs 76.61 lakh and the building of the education board constructed at a cost of 53 lakh at Kansiwala near Nahan. He also laid the foundation stone of the office of the SP, Sirmour, at Nahan that would be constructed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. At Trilokpur, he inaugurated Yatri Nivas, a cafeteria, parking and administrative block, magistrate duty room and a watch tower constructed by Trilokpur Temple Committee. He announced upgrading of schools at Sainwala, Moginand, Mirpurkotla, Kala Amb, Dakwala and Naggal Saketi. He lambasted the NDA regime for scrapping the Act of Essential Commodities that opened the doors for hoarders who stored grains, leading to alarming rise in the rate of inflation. He said the state had only 228 km metalled roads when it achieved statehood 36 years ago and the per capita income was only Rs 240, but now the state had a 30,000-km network of roads and the per capita income was Rs 40,000. Former MLA Ajay Bhadur urged the Chief Minister to contest the coming Assembly poll from Nahan. S.R. Pundir adds: The CM called upon the people to patronise the Congress for the betterment of the state. He said the party had ensured tremendous development of the state since it attained statehood. He said the state had become a model of development for hill states. He said the government was committed to protect and develop religious places in the state. It had taken over the administration of 20 temples and put these under the control of various trusts for ensuring better management. He said more temples that needed government protection would be brought under its control. He called upon the Muslims to come in the main stream of the country and adopt modern education to match the pace of development in the country and the world as well.
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Another PDS scam in Kangra
Dharamsala, March 18 A couple of weeks ago, the police had registered a case under the Essential Commodities Act against two persons in the PDS scam in which 630 quintal ration meant for 1,200 residents of Bara Bhangal village in Baijnath subdivision of Kangra district had gone “missing”. In February also, irregularities in the public distribution system (PDS) had come to light in Nurpur subdivision of the district following which Balwant Singh, an inspector of the Food and Civil Supplies Department, was suspended from the service. Following complaints of being unable to control black marketing of essential commodities, S.S. Pathania, district food and civil supplies controller, was also transferred from Dharamsala to Una, last month. As per details available in the recent case, there were allegations of black marketing of kerosene against a depot holder of Pandhor village falling under Nurpur subdivision of the district. Reacting to a complaint filed by the authorities concerned of the Food and Civil Supplies Department, the police has registered a case under the Essential Commodities Act against Pawan Kumar a depot holder, and begun investigations into the complaints of black marketing. Residents of the village had also written many complaints against the depot holder to various authorities of the district administration following which a formal inquiry was conducted by the Food and Civil Supplies
Department. It was found in the inquiry conducted by the department that the depot holder had made wrong entries in the record book of the stock and sold hundreds of litres of kerosene on the black market. |
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Himalaya Shiromani award for CM
Shimla, March 18 He was addressing the first felicitation function organised by the Himalayan Research Scholars Association which conferred "Himalaya Shiromani" award on him for his valuable contribution in the field of education, here yesterday. The Chief Minister said discipline could not be imposed or enforced but had to emerge from within an individual, as it established the identity of the individual and the educational institution. He said students should cooperate with authorities to ensure best academic atmosphere for academic pursuits. He said students politics should be limited to achieve aims and objectives which could benefit them in their scholarly pursuits.
He urged university authorities to take benefit of talent available in the state by engaging them in academics, research and other education promotional activities so that young scholars were encouraged and inspired with their achievements. He said H.P University was poised to emerged as the top university of the country. The Chief Minister also honoured the scholars in different disciplines on the occasion. |
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Cong to move SC for shifting cases against Badal
Shimla, March 18 Stating this at a press conference here today, Kapurthala district congress committee president Sukhpal Singh Khera said Badal had started the exercise of giving a burial to these cases although he had been charge sheeted in connection with these. The state cabinet in its very first meeting decided to wind up the state vigilance commission set up by the Congress government in accordance with the guidelines of the apex court to insulate the vigilance against political interference. It would have a bearing on the cases as properties of the accused abroad were yet to be investigated. Further, H.S. Mattewal, who was defending Badal, had been made the advocate-general of the state. A strange situation had emerged where Badal had become the investigator, the prosecutor and the accused. There could be no fair investigation and trial, unless the cases were transferred to some other state, preferably a union territory. |
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Senior citizens honoured
Bilaspur, March 18 Thakur said the government was setting up two new sectors along with Bilaspur town for rehabilitating the remaining Bhakra Dam oustees and 124 housing plots had already been created near the HRTC workshop and the Chief Minister would perform the "bhoomi
pujan" on March 23 here, after which the plots will be alloted. He said another sector was also being created in which another some 150 housing plots would be provided to remaining oustees. These allotments will be made under the rules and lottery system. Minister honoured citizens who had crossed the age of 80 years, including R. K. Das, Jagat Singh Chandel, Attar Singh, Gopala Ram, Deepu Ram
Katwal, Munshi Dilip Singh, Mansha Ram Shastri and Bheem Singh. Some citizens were adjudged the best for keeping their surroundings neat and clean around their houses. They were as follows: Thakur Das Sharma, Kaushalya Kapil, Swatantra
Sankhyan, Mohinder Bakshi, Promod Kumar Sharma, Ranjit Verma, Amarnath Sharma Advocate, Sukh Ram Azad, Om Prakash Mehta and Dr Jai Ram Sharma. Earlier association president Colonel A. P. Gautam (retired) presented report on activities of the association, while general secretary R. L. Sharma and vice-president J. K. Nadda also addressed the function. |
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22 dog-bite cases in Dharamsala
Dharamsala, March
18 Although three dogs had been killed by the MC authorities, there are still hundreds of stray dogs roaming around in the streets of the town and adjoining villages making it almost impossible for children and women to move out of their houses alone, residents say. Hundreds of such cases come to light in the district every year, but no serious effort has been made so far to tackle the problem. There have been a three-fold increase in such cases over the past few months, residents add. Some residents feel that sterilisation and vaccination of dogs can be a solution to the problem, while others feel that killing these dogs is the only way out. “I am a regular morning walker,” says Rajinder Singh, “but now I am afraid to go out in the morning. There is a phenomenal increase in stray dog population in the town.” “Stray dogs have become a nightmare for two-wheeler users also. Many accidents are caused by these wandering dogs,” says Ravi Kumar, another resident. Stray dogs are also a threat to tourists. “Many tourists are afraid to move out during the night. These dogs have become a threat to tourism in the area,” maintains a local tour
operator. According to president of the local municipal council Randhir
Sekri, as part of their efforts to tackle stray dog menace, the local body has now decided to implement the animal birth control (ABC) programme. |
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2 members of vehicle
lifters’ gang held
Kangra, March 18 Kangra district additional police chief Santosh Patial disclosing this at a press conference at the Shahpur Police station said today that the duo who were in the transit on the morning of March 13, last, Prince and Rajesh both cousins and residents of Baijnath managed when they managed to give a slip to the police from the Shahpur police station but were arrested this morning. He said the police had conducted raids at many places in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi,
Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana before the police nabbed them today. The police recovered 14 tractors, 3 motorcycles, 1 Scorpio and one Indigo car on the instance of these gang members, Patial disclosed. He said that Prince and Rajesh were the only two members of this gang from Himachal Pradesh while the other nine were from Punjab. He said the gang was operating in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh and the property recovered was of more than Rs 70 lack. |
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Free ration distributed
Hamirpur, March 18 Addressing a gathering on the foundation day of the Sarvkalyankari Sabha at Sujanpur
Tihra, about 20 km from here, today, he alleged that the “methods adopted by the board are against our culture and traditions and thus condemnable.” Criticising the price hike he said “not only has the state government failed in controlling the price rise but development works have also been affected during the present regime.” Dhumal accused the government of failing to spend Rs 27 crore given under the rural health mission as only Rs 10 crores had been spent. Presiding over the function Padma Bhushan awardee Sardar Anjum urged the politicians to act in the right direction. Former education minister Ishwar Das Dhiman, former state BJP president Jai Kishan Sharma and MLAs Ravinder Singh Ravi and Baldev Sharma were also present. President of the sabha Rajinder Rana also addressed the gathering. The sabha distributed free of cost ration and other articles among about 500 poor persons on the occasion. |
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Nod to Shimla plan
Shimla, March 18 Himachal urban development minister Kaul Singh said here today that the government had signed an MoU with the Centre for undertaking various development projects in Shimla city. A sum of Rs 22.7 crore had been sanctioned for solid waste management. The government would reduce stamp duty in Shimla to 5 per cent and introduce the double entry system of accounting in the Shimla Municipal Corporation from April 1. He said the Urban Ceiling Act was not applicable in Shimla town. The government had made rain water harvesting mandatory for all new buildings in the municipal limits of Shimla. Kaul Singh urged the Centre to treat Himachal and Uttarakhand on a par with J&K and the North-East states. He pleaded for an increase in the per unit cost for houses from Rs 90,000 now to Rs 2 lakh under integrated housing and slum development programmes as the construction in hills was expensive compared to the plains. |
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No to pvt practice
Shimla, March 18 Referring to benefits given to the medical fraternity, the spokesman asserted that the present government had given maximum benefits to them and it had regularised the services of 399 medical officers appointed on contractual basis and enhanced the remuneration of contractual medical officers from Rs 12,000 to Rs 16,000 for medical graduates and from Rs 18,000 to Rs 25,000 for postgraduate. Further, the PG allowance as per the Punjab pattern was being paid to the postgraduate medical officers. The anomaly in the payment of PG allowances had also been rectified. |
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Farmers to protest outside Assembly
Shimla, March 18 “To attract government’s attention towards the plight of farmers, a rally will be organised under the banner of the Kheti Bachao Sangharsh Samiti on April 3,” Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti’s state treasurer Satyawan Pundir said. Farmers from across the state would participate in the rally to demand amendments in the Wildlife Act and allow the export of monkeys to other countries. “The farmers are demanding right to protect their crops from wild animals by amending the Wildlife Act and allowing the killing of wild animals by declaring them vermin,” he said.
— UNI |
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Nahan-Paonta road blocked for 6 hrs
Nahan March 18 According to police sources, a truck loaded with iron bars over turned on the road near Markanda bridge this afternoon, thus blocking the traffic. No body was, however, injured in the incident. Due to unavailability of a crane, the traffic could not be restored for several hours. Hundred of vehicles remained stranded on both sides for over six hours putting passengers to inconvenience. Hundreds of them had to walk down to Nahan as the traffic could not be restore for a long time. |
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Three killed in Kangra
Dharamsala, March 18 Four-year-old Sakshi, daughter of Om Prakash, a resident of Thakur Dwara village, was crushed to death by a tempo in the village yesterday. The driver of the tempo tried to flee but was caught by passersby and handed over to the police. The police has registered a case against him. Naresh Kumar (45), son of Baisakhu Ram, fell into a gorge and died on the spot. A case has been registered. In the third incident, Subhash Chand was killed when a tractor he was riding rolled over near Nandrool village, near Kangra, yesterday. |
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All set for Navratras in Kangra
Kangra, March 18 Deputy commissioner Kangra Bharat Khera said thousands of pilgrims were expected to visit the Shakti Peeths of Bajjreshwari, Jawalamukhi and Chamunda temples in Kangra district. All arrangements had been completed for visiting pilgrims, including accommodation, health care, sanitation and security. He said parking places had been identified and other security arrangements made. Additional sweepers had been arranged to maintain proper sanitation in the towns in view of the huge rush of the pilgrims, he added. Additional Kangra district police chief said strict security arrangements had been made to ensure law and order and maintain traffic. |
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Free legal aid clinic soon
Squandering, March 18 He said for this purpose services of two senior advocates would be taken, who would tell the concerned parties after hearing facts of the case and examining their
documents, as to whether the case was maintainable or not. The legal advice in the clinic will be free of cost. |
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Nahan, March 18
Kangra, March 18
