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All BJP MLAs suspended
Amendment to relief manual under study
Rs 6.5 lakh relief given in Bilaspur
Railway traffic restored on Kalka-Shimla track
The Shimla-Kalka train at Koti railway station on the first day of the repaired track on Monday. The track was washed away in this month due to heavy rain.
— Tribune photo by Karam Singh |
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Power Cos pay Rs 258 crore as first instalment
LNJ Bhilwara to invest Rs 12,000 cr in hydel sector
BJP, Cong lock horns over rally venue
It was a man-made disaster: Experts
Construction workers stage protest
Badminton players shortlisted
Spasmo proxyvon capsules seized
Telephone cables stolen
CM mourns Cong leader’s death
Judicial body constituted
Cong suspends former MLA
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Monsoon Session: Day One, Tough One Tribune News Service
Shimla, August 27 The BJP members, who were in an aggressive mood, waited till the House finished with obituary references to former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar and former members of the House Gian Chand Tutu and Besar Ram, who died recently. Leader of the group Ishwar Dass Dhiman was on his legs as soon as the Speaker proceeded with question hour and insisted that the adjournment motions regarding audio CD, Bali’s birthday party and the havoc caused by flash floods for which notices had given by BJP members should be taken up immediately. The Speaker, however, maintained that there was no provision under rules for raising a point of order during question hour. At this, other BJP members also stood up to press for immediate discussion on adjournment motions. This lead to noisy scenes in the House. As the din got louder, the Speaker intervened to restore order and informed the House that the adjournment motions were under consideration. This further infuriated the BJP members, who started raising slogans. As the Speaker proceeded with question hour amidst raising of slogans, they trooped into the well of the House. At this stage, minister for parliamentary affairs Kaul Singh moved a resolution demanding action against the BJP members for trying to disrupt proceedings of the House. The Speaker made one final plea to the protesting members to occupy their seats, but they continued to squat in the well. Thereafter, a resolution suspending all BJP members from the House for the rest of the session was passed and marshals were summoned to remove them from the well. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh termed the behaviour of BJP members as shameful and said he had not come across such conduct in the House ever before, it was an unprecedented act that undermined the dignity of the House. He said issue of the audio CD released Vijay Singh Mankotia was sub judice and could not be discussed in the House as per rules. While a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue was pending before the high court, he had also filed a criminal case of defamation against Mankotia. The court was seized of the matter and it was for those who released the CD to prove that it was authentic and there were no interpolations. The situation was not different in the matter pertaining to the birthday party of former minister G.S Bali. A PIL was filed in the high court that had appointed a retired judge with the consent of the state government to conduct an inquiry. The BJP was not interested in discussing these issues, it only wanted to use the House to malign the Congress and its leaders. However, he warned that the Congress could pay back in the same coin, it was exercising restraint to uphold the high traditions and dignity of the House and also, unlike the BJP, character assassination was not its policy. Murder of democracy: BJP
The BJP today termed the suspension of its MLAs from the Assembly for three days as ‘murder of democracy’ and a pre-planned strategy of the ruling Congress to avoid discussion on important issues. Talking to mediapersons outside the Assembly after their suspension, leader of the BJP Legislature Party I.D. Dhiman and state BJP chief Jai Ram Thakur said the suspension of the BJP MLAs from the House for three days was a Congress strategy of avoiding discussion on serious issues like the audio CD against the Chief Minister, the birthday bash of former minister G.S. Bali and other corruption issues. They said the manner in which they had been suspended was nothing short of ‘murder of democracy’. The BJP chief said since they had been denied an opportunity to raise various issues in the House, the party would go to the public. |
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Amendment to relief manual under study
Shimla, August 27 Replying to the discussion on heavy loss of life and property due to rain and flash floods in the state during the current monsoon season, he said while the government had increased the amount of relief paid in the case of death and damage caused to houses due to natural calamities, there was no provision for providing compensation for damage to retaining structures which protected the house and agriculture land against landslides. He said a proposal to bring such structures within the purview of the relief manual was being finalised and it would be put up before the Cabinet shortly. After approval the relief manual would be again amended. He informed the House that so far 94 persons had been killed and the total loss on account of damage to private and public property amounted to over Rs 1,000 crore. The rainy season was not over as yet and the government had directed the deputy commissioners to submit detailed reports on losses after which a true picture would emerge. He urged the members to submit their own reports regarding losses in their respective areas. A memorandum would be prepared on the basis of their reports for seeking assistance from the Centre. The document would be put before the Cabinet and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would lead the team of ministers and MPs to meet the Prime Minister, the Congress president and the finance minister to plead the state’s case for liberal central assistance to cope with the flood havoc. Participating in the discussion excise and taxation minister Rangila Ram Rao drew the attention to the
damage caused by the Seer khad in Gopalpur and the inconvenience being faced by people due to the washing away of the bridge on it. Horticulture minister Singhi Ram spoke in detail about the havoc caused in Ghanvi where more than 52 persons were killed. |
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Rs 6.5 lakh relief given in Bilaspur
Bilaspur, August 27 Presiding over a meeting of the district grievances committee the minister said reports of losses were still pouring in and losses were expected to increase before a final report was submitted to the state government. He exhorted all officers to make all-out efforts to restore all public utility services which had gone haywire and were disrupted due to this natural calamity. Thakur said the natural calamity relief manual had been revised and amended. In case of death, compensation of Rs 1 lakh would be paid to the bereaved family while Rs 50,000 would be paid for destruction of a house and compensation was also dependent on the actual loss incurred. He said three deaths had been reported and hundreds of houses had been destroyed or damaged while several thousand bighas of land and crops had also been washed away He said all losses, including those of cattle, crops and lands washed in the land slides and floods would be compensated at the earliest, as per the rules. He lashed out at BJP leaders for misusing this natural calamity for political ends. He said such people could never be called well wishers of farmers as they were creating misunderstanding instead of helping in the rehabilitation process of the affected farmers. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Rajinder Singh said uptill now the district administration had received field reports from various departments totaling a loss of Rs 17 crore and the IPH Department had been found as the worst sufferer as its 116 lift drinking water supply schemes, 28 irrigation schemes and one sewerage system had been destroyed in the recent heavy rains. Addressing mediapersons here he said the HP State Electricity Board had lost its 31 lines while losses to bridges and roads in the district was still being assessed. The DC said this morning five bodies had been found floating in Gobind Sagar at Jyori-pattan, near Jagatkhana. He further said the district administration had provided immediate relief of Rs 8.88 lakh to the victims of the calamity according to the revised natural calamity relief manual. |
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Railway traffic restored on Kalka-Shimla track
Solan, August 27 The track was subsequently opened for normal traffic today after remaining closed for a fortnight. All traffic had been suspended following the washing away of the Koti railway station on the night of April 12. Railway traffic inspector Dinesh Sharma confirmed that the track had been opened today. The early opening of this track was also necessitated due to the imminent visit of a 7-member team of UNESCO on September 11, which is to decide grant of heritage status to this historic 104-year old track. The opening of the track has come as a respite to the daily commuters who have heaved a sign of relief. As an emergency measure, the railways sought help of 2 Core Army battalion based at Ambala which conducted four controlled blasts in the adjoining hill to create space for laying of the track. The authorities have managed to lay an emergency single track of nearly 950-meter track for plying of trains in lieu of the UNESCO team’s visit. The entire repair work would, however take over a month confided officials. The first train 1KS left Kalka at 6 am, while the second train 241 left Kalka at 6:30 am. Two other trains Up Mix and 255 Himalayan Queen left Kalka respectively at 9:30 am. and 12:10 pm. Trains also started plying from Shimla to Kalka today with the first train Down Mix leaving Shimla at 8:30 am, while the second train 256 Himalayan Queen was dispatched at 10:30 am. Another train passenger special left for Kalka at 2 pm from Shimla. |
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Power Cos pay Rs 258 crore as first instalment
Shimla, August 27 He said the new hydro power policy of the state had the provision of striking a balance to maintain the traditional riparian rights of the stake holders, development of the local area and an attractive relief and rehabilitation package. He added issues like providing employment opportunities, good land compensation, restoring the fragile ecology and environment were other core issues which were being taken care of. Virbhadra said. Himachal was offering the lowest power tariff in the country to all segments of consumers. “Being a power surplus state, we are committed to provide subsidised power to the consumers in the agriculture and horticulture sector, government health and educational institutions and above all those living below the poverty line,”
he said. The Chief Minister said the government had provided a subsidy of Rs 110 crore and a provision of Rs 134 crore had been made for the purpose for the current financial year. He said in 1950 Himachal was producing only 2.5 MW of power generated at Chhaba, whereas now the state had harnessed 6,370 MW power out of a total
identified potential of 21,000 MW. “Himachal is poised to emerge as the most prosperous state of the country with a fully grown electricity industry which will provide adequate quality power at competitive rates to the consumers,” he said. Power minister Vidya Stokes said a history of sorts had been created in the power sector by obtaining an upfront premium of Rs 258 crore for the allotment of five over 100 MW hydro electric projects. “The state has reserved the right to equity participation in projects above 100 MW up to a maximum limit of 49 per cent,” she stated. Chairman JSW Ltd, Bangalore N.K. Jain, presented a draft of Rs 67.60 crore for allotment of the 260-MW Kutehar on Ravi basin, CEO, Malana Power Corporation Ltd A.B. Giri, presented a draft of Rs 61.20 crore and Rs 25.26 crore for being given 200-MW Bara Bhangal and 140-MW Chango Yangtang in
Spiti Valley. A sum of Rs 21.87 crore was paid against the allotment of 108 MW Chhatru project, Rs 8.06 crore against 108 MW Bajoli-Holi project. |
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LNJ Bhilwara to invest Rs 12,000 cr in hydel sector
Shimla, August 27 Addressing a press conference here today Awadh B. Giri, chief executive officer of the group’s flagship Malana Power Company, said here today that the objective was to have an installed generation capacity of 2,500 MW by 2015 and separate holding company Bhilwara Energy had been set up to achieve this. The company had commissioned the 86-MW Malana project in record time and it hoped to repeat the feat by completing the 192-MW Allain Duhangan project in Kulu by the end of 2008 at a cost of Rs 922 crore. It would generate 700 million units of power annually. The state would get about 84 million units as royalty free of cost. The company had bagged the 200-MW Bara Bhangal project and the 140-MW Chango Yougthang project in international bids. It was also executing the 75-MW project in neighbouring Punjab. The company was also erecting a 185-km transmission line from Manali to Nalagarh for power from the Allain Duhangan project. It had brought foreign investors like Wachovia Bank, the fourth largest institution of the USA, and New York Life Insurance to fund hydroelectric projects in the country and the two companies had invested $25 million so far.
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BJP, Cong lock horns over rally venue
Shimla, August 27 Reacting sharply to the Congress plans for holding a 'samarthan' rally outside the Assembly on the same day when the BJP had planned to hold a dharna by workers from all over the state, state BJP chief Jai Ram Thakur said this only reflected the petty politics of the Congress. He said till date no ruling party had ever held a rally outside the Assembly as it was only the opposition party which organised protests against the government on various issues. "Moreover never have two political parties planned to hold rallies at the same venue and the Congress plans are only aimed at creating chaos and trouble at the BJP rally. He said under no circumstances would the Congress allow the ruling party to create problems at the BJP rally and in the case of any problem it is the Congress which will be held responsible. "This is not for the first time that the Congress has tried to sabotage the BJP plans for holding a rally as the ruling party had booked the venue the BJP had chosen for organising its 'satta parivartan' rally for full one week," he said. He advised the Congress to avoid any confrontation by not organising its rally when the BJP proposed to gherao the Assembly. He said the BJP had planned the demonstration to raise issues like corruption, price rise, unemployment and irregularities in selections. He added the party would now take all these issues to the public. |
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Flash Floods Tribune News Service
Mandi, August 27 Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a workshop on “Floods its causes and mitigation” organised by the HPC, NGO activists Kulbhushan Upmanyu and Guman Singh said: “The recent floods that washed away six bridges and killed over 100 persons were man-made.” They said mindless mining had been going on along rivers, khuds and near bridges. “The mining by government and private contractors had weakened the pillars of bridges that were ultimately swept away in flash floods,” they said. In all, 28 representatives participated in the workshop. Des Raj Sharma, Mahesh Sharma, Keshav Chand and Bishember said various companies, including hydro and cement plants, were dumping debris along the hillside and it was washed down along with trees, soil and boulders whenever it rained. They said even mild rain caused a lot of destruction in the state because there had been a large-scale unbridled construction activity going on in every nook and corner of the state. They also blamed it on the weak enforcement of law and the absence of a scientific mining policy. The roads were being constructed not by the safer cut-and-fill methods. Moreover, afforestation remained negligible, they added.
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Construction workers stage protest
Shimla, August 27 The workers, led by CITU state general secretary Kashmir Thakur presented a demand charter to agriculture minister Raj Krishan Gaur. “The government has been indifferent towards the problems of the construction workers and has failed to implement labour laws,” he said. He said despite violation of labour laws all over the state, the government is shielding the owners of the construction companies and the contractors rather than the workers. “It was way back in 1996 that the Building and Construction Workers Act was passed but till date the government has failed to act on it,” he said. State president of the CITU Ravinder Kumar demanded that the government should fulfil promises it made to the workers in their manifesto. “In case the government does not fulfil its promises the CITU will be forced to hold a state-wide agitation,” he threatened. The demand charter submitted by the CITU include creation of a separate Labour Welfare Bureau, a labour hostel and a labour chowk, temporary and permanent ration cards for the labourers and ending of the break system in PWD. |
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Badminton players shortlisted
Dharamsala, August 27 Prof R.C. Sehgal, senior vice-president of the association, said that in the 19 plus category were Ved Prakash, Balwant Sharma, Sandeep, Baljeet and Sunil while in the 16 to 19 year category Jeot Thakur, Balwant Sharma, Vilap and Suresh Kumar would play for the district in the state-level championship from September 8 to September 12 at Mandi. In the under 13 year category Satyam Sharma, Pankaj, Anmol Deep Rana and Sushant had been shortlisted while in the under 16 year category Vivek, Ashish, Satyam Sharma and Pankaj would represent Kangra in the state-level championship being held from October 2 to October 4 at Hamirpur. The state was organising two championships for the senior and junior categories, Sehgal added.
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Spasmo proxyvon capsules seized
Dharamsala, August 27 He said on confidential information received at his office, the raid was conducted near the Yol cantonment area. One Tanu Kumar, son of Kalyan Singhm resident of Mundal village, Khundian tehsil, of Kangra district was caught with 606 capsules of spasmo proxyvon. He said since Tanu could not produce any purchase record or prescription of a registered medical practitioner, therefore, the capsules were seized. A case under Sections 18-A and 18 (C) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 was registered against him. He said the alleged accused person has given some vital clues of drug trafficking in the district, on the basis of which, few more raids would be conducted soon. |
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Three killed in accidents
Hamirpur, August 27 Amit Bhatnagar (28) and Rakesh Kumar (32), occupants of the truck no HP 37-4679, both belonging to Patti village of Solan district, died on the spot. The accident occurred when the truck dashed into another truck no HP- 68-0533 coming from the other direction, as a result of its impact the truck later rolled down 30 feet deep into a gorge. NAHAN: As per the Paonta police, one Dal Bahadur (65), a Nepalese, was killed on Monday night in the Dhaulan Kuan under the Paonta subdivision when a motorcycle bearing a Punjab number hit him on the road side. He died on the spot. A case has been registered. |
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Telephone cables stolen
Hamirpur, August 27 He said they had reported the matter to the police. According to information, the thieves first removed the telephone cable and later decamped with the copper after melting it at a nearby place. |
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CM mourns Cong leader’s death
Shimla, August 27 The Chief Minister said Verma was a dedicated worker of the party and his death was a great loss to the party. He also mourned the death of Shahi Ram Verma and Jai Ram, who also died in the accident The Chief minister also mourned the death of retired IAS officer T.R. Sharma, who breathed his last
at Shimla. |
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Judicial body constituted
Dharamsala, August 27 President - Akshay Sharma; senior vice-president - Bandana Mehta; general secretary - Narender Rana; cashier - Mohinder Singh Rana; vice-presidents - Bharat Kapoor, Rajiv Sharma, Subash Chand; joint secretaries - Lalita, Ambika, Poonam, Panna Lal; press secretary - Suresh Kumar Jaura; organizing secretaries - Neeraj Rana, Ankur, Vyomesh Kaushal, and Daljeet; and advisors - Mandlik Singh and Kartar Singh.
— TNS |
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Cong suspends former MLA
Shimla, August 27 A press statement issued by the party said that Kaushal had been suspended for breach of party discipline. A show-cause notice had been served on him to explain his position within two weeks as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for carrying propaganda and deliberately trying to lower the prestige of the Congress. |
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Solan, August 27
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