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Hamirpur
Byelection
Shimla
MC Elections
Code
Violation
Attack
on OBC Office |
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BSP a potent force in HP: Saniyal
Policemen beat up taxi drivers, residents
GM showroom sealed
Farmers protest against land acquisition
Nature study camp ends
POWER PROJECTS
Unhygienic meat on sale in Nurpur
Greater Kasauli Chief secy told to file affidavit
LAND ACQUISITION
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Dhumal files nomination
Tribune News Service
Hamirpur, May 14 He, along with a large number of his supporters assembled at Gandhi Chowk where a public meeting was held before filing the nomination papers in the morning. This rally was addressed by BJP vice-president Sahib Singh Verma, former union minister Shanta Kumar, state party chief Jai Ram Thakur, Prem Kumar Dhumal and others. Former Chandigarh MP Sat Pal Jain was also present. Shanta Kumar, former MP Maheshwar Singh, Jai Ram Thakur, state organising secretary Mohinder Pandey and other important leaders were there to express solidarity with Dhumal Una MLA Sat Pal Singh has filed his nomination as a covering candidate for Dhumal. Bilaspur: All arrangements for a peaceful and fair poll in Hamirpur have been completed and 365 presiding officers and 1091 polling officers have been deputed to man 330 polling stations in all four Assembly segments of this district. Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Rajinder Singh said On Monday that election rehearsals would begin here on May 17 and all poling parties would leave for their destinations on May 31. District Election Officer said that 62.05 per cent of the voters had been provided with photo identity cards in the district and the remaining voters would be allowed to cast their votes on the basis of ration card, licence, passport or any other document that proved their identity.
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Shanta to be star campaigner
Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 14 He will hold road shows to garner support for party candidates. With former chief minister and leader of the opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal being confined to Hamirpur, the responsibility for campaigning for the MC elections has been entrusted to Shanta Kumar.
Keeping in view the limit on campaign by the Election Commission, the party has decided that Shanta Kumar should hold road shows. He will hold road shows on May 18 and 19. The Shimla and Kasumpti mandals of the party have been directed to finalise details about the road shows. “This will not only enable contact with maximum possible people, but also help in keeping the expenditure within the prescribed limits,” said senior party leaders. Supporters of Shanta Kumar are upbeat as they feel it will be the beginning of his return in the state politics in a big way. Though Shanta Kumar will also be campaigning in Hamirpur in favour of Dhumal, he will concentrate on the MC elections here. Former Delhi chief minister and in charge of party affairs in Himachal Sahib Singh Verma will arrive here tomorrow. He will hold meetings with the party office-bearers, election in charge, ward presidents and the publicity in charge. He is likely to camp here for some days as winning the MC elections is crucial for the BJP. With the main focus of all senior leaders being the Hamirpur Lok Sabha byelection, former state party chief and MP Suresh Bhardwaj, state BJP general secretary Khushi Ram Balnahata, former horticulture minister Narinder Bragta and Mr Ganesh Dutt are holding the reins of the party campaign in the MC elections. State chief Jai Ram Thakur is also expected to devote some time for campaigning in Shimla. The BJP, which has only seven councillors at present, is trying hard to gain control over the lone corporation of the state. The Congress, which has kept its control over the MC since it came into being in 1986, has 16 councillors and is not willing to let go its hold. The CPM has only one seat of Summer Hill under its control. |
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BJP seeks action against Cong
Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 14 State BJP secretary H.N. Kashyap and BJP treasurer Ashok Sood along with other leaders met chief election officer Manisha Nanda and requested her to take action against the Congress leadership. The Congress ministers were using their official vehicles and staff by camping in the areas adjoining the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat to influence the voters. “Hoardings put by the government with photographs of UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Virbhadra Singh can still be seen along the national and state highways,” he said. The BJP leaders said that in complete violation of the code of conduct the Cabinet had approved the filling of 4,422 posts of various categories and relaxation in educational qualification to 1,267 daily wagers for their regularisation. They further complained that Congress leaders were pressuring the district administration in the four districts falling under the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat to commit irregularities to favour the party. “The Congress leaders have occupied all rest houses and other government accommodation, with the result that the BJP leaders have no place to stay,” they complained.
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3 arrested, 2 vehicles recovered
Our Correspondent
Kangra, May 14 The police could not arrest the other alleged five accused persons who had been granted an interim bail by the District and Sessions Court yesterday. Kangra District police chief Ajay Kumar Yadav today said Vicky, alias Kotla, Sunny and Nanda, both residents of Rajol, were today arrested in connection with the attack on the MLAs office. He said the other five accused persons, Parveen Rana of |Kuthwan, Sachin of Matur, Omkar Singh of Sameerpur, Vikas of Meherna and Narinder Patial have been granted an interim bail by the court yesterday so they could not be arrested. He said that they, however, were being questioned in this case. He said the police has recovered two vehicles DLC9CB 9409, a Maruti van, and HP 40 8658 ,an Alto car, used during the attack. He said the police was looking for another vehicle used in the crime. Some police sources said the police had recovered weapons, including swords, iron rods, and lathis.
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BSP a potent force in HP: Saniyal
Kangra, May 14 It
would not let any other political party come to power after the February, 2008, poll without its
support, he added. He said the BSP was fast emerging as the most powerful political party in the Indian political arena, which was evident from the poll results of the UP elections. He said the BSP was a united reckoning force of both the Dalits and the upper castes and today's results would help the BSP to further strengthen its network in the state. Saniyal said the BSP had emerged strong under the leadership Mayawati and hoped that people of the state would continue to extend their support to the party in future. |
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Policemen beat up taxi drivers, residents
Mandi, May 14 They beat up taxi drivers and local residents. Shopkeepers shut down their shops in protest. Later, angry residents and shopkeepers blocked the highway for around 30 minutes till senior police officials pacified them. Seven residents sustained minor injuries in the incident, alleged residents. They have demanded strict action against the culprits. According to residents, some policemen and taxi drivers had entered into an argument in the bazaar following which they were thrashed. Three policemen went to the battalion camp and came back with around 70 newly trained policemen to take on the taxi drivers. Later, they went berserk and thrashed whosoever came in their way, alleged shopkeepers. Officials posted at the Pandoh police post said they had informed the district police office about the incident. They were just three policemen at the chowki at that time, they claimed. No case has been registered so far. Mandi ASP Rajesh Dharmani, who rushed to the spot after the incident, said the situation was under control. “We are looking into the matter,” he added.
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GM showroom sealed
Mandi, May 14 Acting on a complaint, the team led by the Mandi excise and taxation assistant commissioner Rohit Chauhan raided the showroom and detected the tax evasion racket. “The company was selling Chevrolet and Tavera vehicles from the showroom here, but was procuring bills from its Chandigarh office”, sources said. The sources said the company had sold around 12 vehicles at the Mandi showroom, but it had given bills to the customers from Chandigarh. The government charges 12.5 per cent as VAT on each vehicle sold. The company was evading VAT worth Rs 30,000 on small vehicles to Rs 75, 000 per vehicle on bigger vehicles, the sources said. The GM motors had opened the showroom here about one and half months ago and had been duping the state government of 12.5 per cent VAT charged on the cost price of each vehicle. Confirming the raid Chauhan said the showroom had been sealed and shutdown and a case had been registered under the VAT Act. “We are assessing the total tax evasion committed by the company”, he added. When the Chandigarh office of the Dynamic motors was contacted, Himachal manager (sale) H. Sharma claimed that the company was giving deliveries from Chandigarh to the customers and not from Mandi. “We have kept the stock of vehicles for exhibition and not for sale”, he added.
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Farmers protest against land acquisition
Solan, May 14 Hundreds of farmers and women from panchayati raj institutions raised slogans against the forcible acquisition of 10,000 bighas of land by the state government. They termed the step as black law. Yograj Bhatia, pradhan of an affected panchayat, said the government that talked of helping farmers had let loose such atrocities on them. Avowing to give life rather than their land, farmers later submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the local tehsildar saying if the decision was not reversed within a week, they would launch a massive agitation. Sunita Devi, pradhan of Gurumajra panchayat, said the forcible acquisition served no interest of the state’s own people and it was unfair to ignore them while benefiting the investors alone. The farmers said it was deplorable to note that out of the barely 8 per cent arable land, barely 2 per cent was under irrigation and the government chose to ignore the nearby barren land for acquisition. State president of the Kabir Panthi Sudhar Samaj Jagdish Chand addressed the farmers. He said it was unjust to deprive small farmers having barely 2 to 4 bighas of their landholdings by forcible acquisition. He said they would launch a state-level agitation if the government continued with the process.
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Nature study camp ends
Dalhousie, May 14 Shubh Karan Singh, SDM, who was the chief guest, stressed on the importance of nature. He said nature in the form of trees helped in keeping the carbon-dioxide level low in the air and the greenhouse effect was the reason for an increase in the temperature. He urged the students to strive towards protecting it. In the present-day competitive world one can be a leader only if one’s ‘emotional quotient’ is high. It tells how to deal with challenging situations. Master Tushar Ghodake was appreciated for collecting the maximum amount of polythene bags found scattered on the trekking routes. The SDM distributed certificates among the students on their successful completion of the nature study camp in which students from as far as Maharashtra had participated. |
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Firms to approach govt against miscreants
Our Correspondent
Chamba, May 14 They have registered their grouses with the Centre and state governments against miscreants and officials, who are creating hindrances in the execution of these projects, besides threatening the engineers and other staff to perform their duty. Compelled by these circumstances, the enterprises have approached the government for speedy completion of the projects without any hindrance. The companies have prepared a list of the miscreants along with their criminal records and a memorandum to this effect was expected to be submitted shortly to the Centre and the state government. The engineers of these companies opined that the projects undertaken by them in the mountainous regions of Himachal Pradesh had been cleared by the state and the centre in all respects; such as signing of memorandum of understanding (MoUs), environment and pollution clearance as well as technical and financial approval from the government. Even then, these miscreants were instigating the locals and hampering the development works of these projects by masterminding agitations. They claimed that they were working as per the norms laid down with respect to the environment management plans (EMPs) and were submitting all reports to the government accordingly from time to time by maintaining transparency in entirety. They said these projects were of national importance and would mitigate the prevailing power crisis across the country.
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Unhygienic meat on sale in Nurpur
Nurpur, May 14 The municipal council (MC) has built a slaughterhouse in the Chowgan area for slaughtering sheep and goat, but it is not being used by the meat sellers. They have been slaughtering animals in houses in populated areas without conducting any health check on the animals. Intriguingly, the MC is releasing honorarium to the inspecting authority of the Department of Animal Husbandry, regularly. But neither the MC nor any other government agency ensures that a health check is conducted on the animals before slaughtering them. The meat is not inspected and stamped as ‘fit for consumption”. The MC has discussed the issue several times, but the regular inspection of meet could not be ensured so far. Nurpur senior veterinary officer Anil Sharma says animals should be slaughtered after proper health inspection and meat should stamped as fit for consumption by a veterinary doctor before being put on sale. “However, meat sellers do not bring animals to the slaughter house or the veterinary hospital for inspection,” he added. |
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Greater Kasauli Chief secy told to file affidavit
Shimla, May 14 The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice V.K. Ahuja on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Baljeet
Malik. He has alleged that indiscriminate construction is being carried out in and around Kasauli town and trees have also been illegally felled. |
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LAND ACQUISITION
Kumarhatti, May 14 Holding banners and raising slogans against the government, the villagers staged a massive protest rally. The protesters under the banner of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Bhoomi Bachao Sangresh Samiti raised slogan against the government while criticising the proposed move. Addressing the gathering, Daya Ram Ranger, president of the samiti, said the move was targeted to make the farmers landless. Over 90 per cent of the villagers of the area were Dalits and belonged to minority community. He warned the state government to annul the notification to this fact otherwise the farmers would intensify the stir. Jagdish Chand, president of the Kabir Panthi Samaj Sudharak, said the farmers had land holding between two bigha to four bigha. How would they survive if they were derived of their land, he questioned. Ishwar Singh Thakur, president of local panchayat, said it was a preplanned move to benefit the capitalist class. These laws would not be tolerated at any cost, he added. In spite of the assurance by the Solan DC that no land would be acquired in the area, the notification was passed on land acquisition. Thakur said. Similarly other leaders, including Jaspal Kaur and Savita, warned the government to take back the decision. The move would not be allowed at any cost. We would prefer to die rather give our lands, they reiterated. Later a memorandum was submitted to Nalagarh tehsildhar Baldev Sharma to be forwarded to the Chief Minister.
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