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Assembly
Elections
Dhumal, Mankotia hail EC decision not to defer poll
Medical college made operational at Tanda
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Mushroom growers seek collection centres
Signature campaign against MLA
Lecturers’ contentions rejected
Wife Missing
Industrial surge ups power consumption
People of Chamba resent Harsh Mahajan’s decision
Monkey Menace
Urmil, Narinder Thakur come together
Thakur flays Cong on poll dates issue
Tibetans elated as Dalai Lama bestowed US honour
Sub-junior hockey begins
Clean chit to Bali hailed
Saach Pass closed due to heavy snowfall
HPU puts off interviews
Chakki bridge alternative
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Assembly
Elections Tribune News Service
Shimla, October 17 Some of the senior Congress leaders who are this time considering retiring from politics are already lobbying to ensure that their sons get the party ticket for the Assembly poll. Notable amongst them are revenue minister Sat Mahajan, agriculture minister Raj Krishan Gaur and former union communications minister Sukh Ram. If the Congress is known for making politics a family legacy, the BJP is not far behind. Former chief minister P.K. Dhumal, now a Lok Sabha MP, is keen that his son, Anurag Thakur, is given the party ticket from the Bamsan constituency, represented by him earlier. In fact, the BJP leader who contested the Hamirpur byelection much against his wishes, wanted an assurance from the central leadership that in case of his victory his son should be given the party ticket from his traditional seat of Bamsan. Having won the Nurpur seat even in the 1977 Janata Party wave, the ‘field marshal’ of Kangra politics, Sat Mahajan, is keen that his son, Ajay Mahajan, finally makes his electoral debut. Ajay Mahajan is already the secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) and has been very active in the Nurpur area for many years. It remains to be seen whether the party accepts his claim as he is keen to retire being over 75-year-old. However, many other Congress leaders of Nurpur, including former MLA Ranjit Bakshi, are also in the race for the party ticket. Similarly, former communication minister Sukh Ram is also pleading the case of his son and former Rajya Sabha MP, Anil Sharma. Anil, who remained a minister in the state, is interested in contesting on the Congress ticket. Sukh Ram, who is still facing court cases with respect to the disproportionate assets case, wants to retire from politics, mainly because of failing health due to old age. Agriculture minister Raj Krishan Gaur from Kullu has also made up his mind to retire from politics and field his son in his place. Gaur, who contests the Banjar seat, is keen that his son should be given the Congress ticket in his place. Another BJP leader who could plead the case of his son is former Vidhan Sabha Speaker Radha Raman Shastri. Though keen to field his son from the Chopal constituency, party circles say that it is Shastri who will finally contest the elections.
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Ex-IAS officer joins BJP
Shimla, October 17 Bhushan, who recently took voluntary retirement from service, joined the BJP along with 18 other persons here today. Besides Bhushan, a retired Area Officer with the SSB also joined the BJP today. Bhushan and all others were admitted into the BJP by Shimla district unit chief Roop Dass Kashyap.
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2 DIGs shifted
Shimla, October 17
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Dhumal, Mankotia hail EC decision not to defer poll
Dharamsala, October 17 Addressing mediapersons at Una, Dhumal said the BJP was even ready for early polls in case the Congress felt that it would not be feasible to hold elections in the tribal constituencies of the state during the month of December. He said the government’s request of postponing elections on the plea that the school education board had decided to hold examinations from December 4 to December 20 only reflected the perturbed mindset of the senior Congress leadership. He was of the opinion that the examination dates could always be changed to suit the interests of the students and the people of the state. The BJP leader said, on Monday last, the BJP had handed over a letter to the Election Commission, requesting the transfer of some deputy commissioners, superintendents of police and some other key officials in the state, who were working for the ruling party. He said the BJP was keeping an eye on such officers who were involved in preparing the Congress manifesto or working towards the postponement of elections. He said the executive was the backbone of the state; therefore, officers should work towards maintaining a clean image and help in conducting free and fair elections. Meanwhile, the state convener of the BSP Major Vijay Singh Mankotia, while taking to The Tribune on telephone this evening also hailed the decision of the Election Commission not to change the dates of assembly elections. He lashed out at Virbhadra Singh for playing double standards and playing a politics of convenience.
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Medical college made operational at Tanda
Tanda (Kangra), October 17 This despite the fact that there is no facility for conducting medical tests and more than 50 per cent of the posts of medical specialist, registrar, doctor, paramedical and other staff are lying vacant. The special secretary of the Medical Education Department Rajiv Shankar, who was on an official tour here, claimed the college was made operational in the new building following instructions from the high court. This is one of the most prestigious projects of the state government and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh wanted to take political mileage out of it by making it operational in the new building constructed at a cost of Rs 350 crore. Earlier, inauguration of the new building and formal shifting of the medical college from Dharamsala to Tanda was postponed at least four times. However, the surprise announcement of Assembly elections left the CM high and dry with hardly any option left before him other than to get it operational as soon as possible so as to attract voters of the areas that were likely to benefit from this institution. Today, a small ceremonial function in the form of a ‘havan puja’ was organised by principal of the medical college Suresh Sankhyan. No politician or official of the district administration was present in the ceremony. Even special secretary of the Medical Education Department Rajiv Shankar, who was sitting in the office of the principal, did not attend the ceremony. The principal of the college said it was not the inauguration of the hospital building but “greh pravesh” only. Thus the bureaucracy kept an option open for the political leadership to inaugurate the hospital once again after the elections were over.
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Mushroom growers seek collection centres
Solan, October 17 The Solan Mushroom Growers Association has decided to take up this issue with the state government. The growers said though a similar centre existed in the town in the mid 1980s but it was closed down after some time as it was found non-viable. The number of growers has crossed over 100 now and such a centre will help sell their produce without much problems. The growers rued that despite being the Mushroom City of India, the growers here were deprived of basic facilities. They opined that if the state government could consider mushroom farming as an agriculture venture and grant them power on concession basis it would go a long way in promoting their business. Since the mushrooms had little shelf life, the commodity had to be transported to the markets within a day of being harvested. Further, with cold climatic conditions, more power was required to meet the requisite temperature. Supporting this demand, director of the National Research Centre for Mushroom (NRCM) Dr R.P.Tewari here said with states like Goa and Delhi already providing this facility and the Haryana Government extending it to small growers, they had benefited. The state government should also consider the demand of the growers as it could fetch valuable foreign exchange. He said with the demand for mushroom being much more than its supply, the crop had a positive future and it accounted for foreign trade worth $45 to 50 billion per annum. Amar Jaiswal, who has been growing mushrooms for the past nearly 20 years said if the government could provide us these basic facilities if would enable generation of more business. He said though a number of small growers joined the business each year but only few managed to sustain it for years due to poor facilities. Out of nearly 100 growers here, a bare 15 to 20 were old growers who had spent 10 to 20 years in the business, while a majority of them had found it un-remunerative barely after being in it for a few years. The growers also said the NRCM should undertake more extension activities so that new technologies were made known to the growers as this would help the trade. |
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Signature campaign against MLA
Solan, October 17 The Congressmen are going from house to house and are procuring signatures of people desirous of changing the sitting MLA.
Sources said the campaign was aimed at projecting other prospective candidates, including the kin of the former six-time MP from the constituency who has been vying to catch a foothold in the constituency. “The main contention of the people is the fact that the five-time sitting MLA has been rather inactive at meetings. Not only do we feel voiceless with such an MLA holding fort but the constituency appears almost without an effective leader” confided a senior Congressman. With the Congress having changed tickets of quite a few MLAs in Punjab in the bygone Assembly polls, the ticket aspirants here are now adopting various tactics to procure tickets against sitting MLAs. Senior Congressmen have different views towards this development as they feel an earlier attempt of the sort where signatures of nearly 34 of the 36 panchayat pradhans has been sought had failed to yield the desired result. They term it as a ploy to promote candidates who are virtually beginners and are yet to establish their hold over the masses. With common developmental works like regular water supply, poor condition of roads, virtual lack of health facilities and no college in the area despite several promises remaining unfulfilled for the past several decades there is a simmering discontent among the people. All these issues have now become a key point of concern among the masses opined a section of people who were keen to see a new face. |
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Lecturers’ contentions rejected
Mandi, October 17 Parents revealed that lecturers were not teaching classes IX and X in many senior secondary schools in the region. Though the final examinations are just two months away students have yet to cover syllabi in many subjects, they rued. On the other hand, HPLA senior vice-president Vijay Guleria claimed that the suspension of president of the association Ashwani Kumar was undemocratic and should be withdrawn immediately. He claimed the government notification sub clause 16 says that "the ninth and tenth classes can be taken by lecturers/PGTs but the very next line says that TGTs and C&V teachers will remain on a secondment basis in government senior secondary schools. Lecturers said if TGTs and C&V teachers were on a secondment basis in senior secondary schools they were there for teaching classes IX and X. 0"We were appointed to teach specific subjects under the 10 + 2 system in 1986. Why are we being pressured to teach classes IX and X, they questioned, citing the NCET norms which only recommended that these classes should be taught by trained teachers. Dismissing the contentions of the association, director, secondary education Anita Rao said the department had made it clear in its notification that "lecturers will teach 9th and 10th classes in all senior secondary schools where TGTs and C&V teachers are not available". There was no mention in their appointment letters that they would teach only plus one and plus two classes. The department would take action in case they did not teach classes IX and X.
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Wife Missing
Kangra, October 17 Bagwan Dass in a letter to the State Women Commission alleged that his wife, Rama Devi, had been missing for the past over one year and deplored police inaction in this case and sought the intervention of the commission.
Bagwan Dass told The Tribune that Rama Devi had come to his shop on October 21 last year with his breakfast and returned but she did not reach home after that. He said that a case at Jawalamukhi police station was registered on October 22, but the police had failed to trace her so far . He alleged the police had not make sincere efforts to trace his wife despite his repeated requests. In the letter to the commission, Bagwan Dass alleged that on July 13, this year, a 20-year-girl Saroj, a resident of Lagbadna village, in the presence of members of three mahila mandals disclosed that Bala Devi of the same village had made Rama Devi a drug addict and she helped her to flee from home and the slipper of his wife was kept on the Dehra bridge only to mislead the police and her family.
Bagwan Dass in his letter further alleged that he lodged a report with the police about these disclosures but the police neither inquired from Saroj who made disclosures nor from Bala Devi. He said he had written to director-general of police and other senior dignitaries to look into the matter and help him trace his wife out but it was all in vain. He said he was now physically tired, mentally fatigued and emotionally upset and demanded justice in this case. Dehra DSP Sita Ram said the police had made efforts to search out the missing woman but failed to trace her. He said when the name of. Bala Devi was disclosed by another girl Saroj before the mahila
mandals, Bala Devi was called to the Jawalamukhi police station and was questioned. He further said the allegations were found to be untrue. He accepted that Saroj was not questioned in the case. |
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Industrial surge ups power consumption
Shimla, October 17 The total consumption of electricity shot up from 2925 million units in 2004-05 to 3568 units in 2005-06 and to 4219 million units last year. As per the projection for the year, the figure will go up to 5200 million units in the current year which means that the board will have to arrange much more power during the lean winter months. Himachal is overall a power surplus state but it faces an acute shortfall during the winter as demand goes up and generation from various hydroelectric projects declines due to a reduction in the discharge of various rivers and streams. Last year the peak consumption from November to February ranged between 160 and 165 lakh units but this year it was likely to touch 200 lakh units, further increasing the gap between demand and availability. This means that the board will have to arrange more power despite the fact that the annual generation has increased by 590 million units with the full commissioning of the 126-MW Larji project and the 12-MW Khauli project. The board has already tied up with Punjab, Haryana and Delhi for additional power during the winter through a banking arrangement. The board supplies its surplus power to its counterparts during the summer and takes it back during the winter to meet the shortfall. The board’s own generation comes down to 40 lakh unit per day during the winter and with central share of 50 lakh units and another 50 lakh units from unallocated pool the availability will be about 140 lakh units per day. The remaining 50 to 40 lakh units will be arranged through banking and outright purchase. The power bill of the board will further increase significantly and the State Electricity Regulatory Commission had already expressed concern over it in the tariff order for the year. The only redeeming feature is that the board is selling its surplus power during the summer at a very attractive rate of Rs 7.30 per unit as against Rs 5.70 per unit last year. The sale of power will fetch over Rs 400 crore to the board as against Rs 258 crore last year as such it could afford to pay for higher power purchase. |
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People of Chamba resent Harsh Mahajan’s decision
Chamba, October 17 In his three-paged in this connection, circulated here, Mahajan had stated that due to personal reasons, he would neither participate in politics of the ensuing Assembly elections nor contest it but would continue to serve the Congress as a dedicated worker. Mahajan could not be contacted for comments. “There is no alternative to the Congress which has a long-chequered history of India’s freedom-struggle and development of the nation with uplift of the poor and the downtrodden”; Mahajan has explicitly elucidated in his letter. Mahajan’s letter, however, appealed to the electorate that the future of the state was safe under the leadership of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and expressed his confidence that the Congress would repeat the history and would again be voted to power and Virbhadra would again be the Chief Minister. The letter of the Cabinet minister has surprised everyone in the constituency. His letter attributed all his success to the profound love of the people and blessing bestowed on him by the elderly citizens of the district to whom he felt indebted. To build pressure on Mahajan to contest the elections from the constituency, various organisations, panchayat pradhans, Congress workers of Chamba have started dharna which would continue until or unless Mahajan agreed to contest elections.
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Monkey Menace
Bilaspur, October 17 He said this was another election stunt, like several others, the forest minister had come out with to befool the people of the state. Kaushal said the monkeys were still a menace due to the destructive policies of the Himachal Government. All forests had been denuded and there was nothing left for monkeys to feed upon in their natural habitats, which had forced them to enter the villages. Kaushal also rejected the scheme of growing maize in jungles to keep monkeys there. He said this monkey and wild animal menace was causing huge damages to crops in the state Kaushal demanded that each farmer suffering from monkey menace should be provided a compensation of Rs 2,000 per bigha of land, while at least one person of the concerned family should be provided employment by the government. The forest staff should be trained to catch and control these animals so that these can be exported to foreign countries for earning foreign exchange.
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Urmil, Narinder Thakur come together
Hamirpur, October 17 Surprising every body here, at a joint press conference held today, they said “they would stake claim for the BJP ticket from Hamirpur constituency for the coming Assembly election.” The coming together of both Urmil and Narinder Thakur, who belong to late Thakur Jagdev Chand’s family, have surprised every body here, since both had contested against each other in the last Assembly elections and both had lost to Congress candidate Anita Verma, after the BJP had given ticket to Urmil Thakur. They said “We will not contest as an independent candidate this time and will work for the party if the BJP ticket is given to any of them. No differences exist between us and all misunderstandings have been cleared.”
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Thakur flays Cong on poll dates issue
Mandi, October 17 Thakur said the government had demanded elections in December and now Congress leaders were approaching the commission for not holding these in that month. On the issue of controversy regarding the allotment of ticket in Lahaul-Spiti where three BJP leaders had threatened to revolt against the party if the ticket was given to Ram Lal Markandey, he said only three-four BJP leaders were protesting against Markandey and the party was trying to persuade them to arrive at consensus and would resolve the dispute within a few days. |
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Tibetans elated as Dalai Lama bestowed US honour
McLeodganj, October 17 Week-long celebrations in this connection began today. The live telecast of the award ceremony broadcast by the Voice of America Tibetan TV would be shown on a large screen at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts from 10 pm onwards. It may be mentioned that the event would be the first ever public meeting between the Tibetan leader and a sitting US
president. |
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Sub-junior hockey begins
Solan, October 17 Eight teams from various schools across North India will compete for the coveted trophy. Schools including YPS, Mohali, YPS, Patiala, The Army Public School, Dagshai, The Punjab Public School, Nabha, Sherwood College, Nanital, Shivalik Public School, Chandigarh, St. Soldier Divine Public School, Panchkula, and the host school, are participating in the three-day tournament. The teams have been divided in two pools. The top team of Pool A will play the second Team of Pool B and like wise the top team of Pool B will play the second team of Pool A in the semi-finals and the winners of the semis will compete for the trophy. Pinegrove School has been organising this tournament for the past many years The chief guest on the opening ceremony will be Col. Sandeep Nautiyal, Commanding Officer, 1/3 Gorkha Rifles, Dagshai.
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Clean chit to Bali hailed
Solan, October 17 The congress leader said the committee findings had brought out the truth and the fact that the channel had not joined the probe proved that their intentions were not to unearth the truth but to indulge in defamatory news. He added that such attempts would also lessen the credibility of the news channel which had nothing substantial to show to its viewers. |
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Saach Pass closed due to heavy snowfall
Chamba, October 17 The pedestrians have been warned not to take any risk by crossing over the pass during the blizzard. The Killar township which is the subdivisional headquarters of the Pangi tribal valley is situated at an altitude of 2,600 metre. The lower areas of the district and the Pangi tribal valley have had rain accompanied by thunderstorm. The Saach Pass would remain closed for about seven months during the snow season, and reopen in June next. The engineers working on the hydroelectric projects in the hilly terrains of Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Jammu and Kashmir predict that the deposition of early snow on the mountain ranges of the northwestern Himalayas proves ‘a boon’ for the optimum hydropower generation. |
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Shimla, October 17 The university authorities said that since they were still awaiting the reply of the Election Commission in connection with the interviews, it had decided to postpone the process. They said since the recommendations of the selection committee could not be placed before the Executive Council for implementation it had been decided to hold the interviews after the elections. The interviews have been advertised at least six times during the past few years. — TNS
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Chakki bridge alternative
Nurpur, October 17 According to P.C. Katoch, executive engineer of national highway division at Jogindernagar, the passage will be a temporary arrangement to restore traffic on the Pathankot-Mandi highway. The government has awarded tender for it to a Nurpur-based firm. The work will be over in one month. |
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