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School education board reschedules exams
Parties to address disability issue
BJP’s chief ministerial candidate after poll: Jain
Tribal seats to see hectic campaigning
Cancel back-dated orders, BJP to EC
Early poll thwarts Cong game plan
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BJP mahila morcha seeks 33 pc quota
CPI nominee for Hamirpur
11 Bharmour polling stations hypersensitive
Kokje briefed on poll arrangements
Man held for death of daughter-in-law
Tension over woman’s death
Sherwood defeats APS
Doc held on molestation charge
Mother-in-law, wife shot at
Fake currency seized
SFI threatens agitation
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School education board reschedules exams
Dharamsala, October 19 Earlier, the tentative dates of the examinations were scheduled to be held between December 4 and December 20 but the EC in the meantime announced the dates of the polls to be conducted in November and December that clashed with the dates of the school examinations. As a result of which, the state government had pleaded before the EC to further extend the dates of the polls but the EC rejected this plea and gave a time of two days to the government to either reschedule the dates of examinations or be prepared to conduct the polls 15 days in advance. Talking to mediapersons in his office here chairman of the board B.R. Rahi announced that the annual examinations of middle and matric classes of the winter session schools would now be conducted from December 24 to January 2 in as many as 476 examination centres across the state. He said more six lakh students would be appearing in these examinations and approximately 5,000 teachers would be deployed on examination duty apart from the supporting staff. Adding that he said the board had recommended to the state government to extend the dates of the winter holidays of the schools or grant restricted holidays to them for performing their duty under unavoidable circumstances. In reply to a question, Rahi said it was virtually impossible for the board to hold the examinations before the poll schedule because there was a problem of getting the question papers printed at a short notice and then delivering them in the remote areas of the state well in time. He further said if the weather conditions were favourable, the matriculation practical examination would also be conducted between January 3 and January 10, next year. Otherwise, these dates would be rescheduled, he added. |
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Manifestoes Tribune News Service
Shimla, October 19 The issue was discussed threadbare at a panel discussion on “disability and election agenda” organised by the State Chapter of Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies on the eve of the Assembly poll in which senior leaders of the Congress, the BJP and the CPM participated, here today. Congress general secretary Kuldeep Rathore said the government had enacted the Persons With Disability (PWD) act but it was not being enforced effectively due to lack of awareness among the people. The government had provided 3 per cent reservation in jobs for them and had introduced a number of scholarship schemes to help them pursue education. Politicians had been pursing cases of challanged individuals but there was no effective system in place to take care of their problems. BJP general secretary Khushi Ram Balnatah said there was need to change the mindset of the society as a whole. The challanged should not be seen as a “liability” but a “priority” by everyone, including the political leaders and the parties. It was more a matter of sensitising the society so that they were ensured equal opportunities and accorded preferential treatment in every sphere of life. CPM leader Tikender Singh lamented that in a capitalist society there was a general lack of concern for the challenged persons. The issues pertaining to the disabled had been by and large neglected by political parties and there was need to take up these on a campaign basis. President of the society Ajai Srivastav pointed out that the extent to which the disability issues had been ignored by political parties could be judged from the fact that they had found no place in the election manifestoes. Further, the issue had been hardly debated in the Vidhan Sabha all these years. The neglect at the government level was reflected in the indifferent implementation of the PWD Act. The significant outcome of the debate was that all three parties agreed to address the concerns of the challenged persons in their election manifestoes.
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BJP’s chief ministerial candidate after poll: Jain
Palampur, October 19 He said both Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal would campaign for the success of the BJP in the state and after the completion of the poll process the BJP parliamentary board would announce the name of the chief ministerial candidate in consultation with the party MLAs of the state. In reply to a question Jain said the recent statement of the leader of the opposition in the H.P Assembly and senior BJP leader I.D. Dhiman that the next government in the state would be formed under the leadership of Prem Kumar Dhumal had no approval from the party high command and his statement carried no weight. He said he would ask Dhiman that under what context he had issued such a statement for which he was not competent. He advised the leaders and workers of the BJP not to approach the press on such crucial issues otherwise disciplinary action would be initiated against them. Jain who was addressing a news conference here this morning said the BJP was prepared for the ensuing Vidhan Sabha elections in the state and names of the party candidates would be announced after
Diwali. He said the BJP had already finalised the names of three candidates for the three constituencies of tribal areas in the state and the BJP high command would soon declare their candidature. He said party would give a united fight to the Congress. Appreciating the free fearless role of Election Commission of India, Jain said, the commission had taken a bold step by rejecting the demand of the Congress for the postponement of Assembly elections in the state for March next year. He said the election for the state Assembly had been advanced because of the writ filed by the Congress MLAs here, who had approached the HP High Court for early elections in the tribal areas and the BJP had no role in it.
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Tribal seats to see hectic campaigning
Shimla, October 19 The elections in the three segments of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bharmour were reduced to a mere formality in 1998 and 2003 as polling took place in June almost four months after the formation of the government. The outcome of the poll was a foregone conclusion as the electorate overwhelmingly voted for the party which had formed the government on both occasions. For instance, the ruling Congress polled 54.33 per cent votes in 2003 in Kinnaur as against 33.21 per cent polled by the BJP, a gap of more than 21 per cent. However, in 1993 when the election was held along with the rest of the state the Congress got 51.03 per cent and the BJP 47.75 per cent, a margin of just 3 per cent. In Lahaul-Spiti the margin in 2003 was much higher with the Congress polling 56 per cent and the HVC just 28 per cent. In contrast in 1993 the gap between the two parties was only 12 per cent. Similarly, the Congress secured 61.58 per cent vote in Bharmour in 2003, 27.31 per cent more than the BJP, whereas in 1993 the Congress polled 42.50 per cent and the BJP came a close second with 37.26 per cent votes. The figures clearly indicate that the contest is keen during a simultaneous poll and therefore both the ruling Congress and its main rival, the BJP, will have to toil really hard for victory. This was perhaps the reason why the Congress wanted elections in the tribal areas along with the rest of the state. However, its applecart was upset by the Election Commission which also advanced the poll in the remaining 65 seats for which the ruling party was not prepared at all.
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Cancel back-dated orders, BJP to EC
Shimla, October 19 Party spokesperson Randhir Sharma said that appointments were being given against posts for which the interviews were still being conducted and large-scale transfers had been ordered. The model code of conduct came into force on October 10 but the orders were being issued in back dates, mostly October 9 and 10. He alleged that only yesterday three favourite candidates, including the daughter of a non-gazetted employees’ leader who was close to the Chief Minister, had been issued appointment letters in back dates in the Health Department. The director of health, who had been granted extension after superannuation, was obliging the government. Having failed to get the elections deferred the government was now blatantly violating the code of conduct. He urged the commission to cancel the extension in service granted to officers by the government to ensure that the model code of conduct was not violated. Meanwhile, Rajender Rana, another BJP spokesperson, has criticised Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for changing his stand on the election schedule. On the one hand Virbhadra Singh was saying that the Congress was prepared for the poll and on the other wanted to remain in office till March, 2008. He asked if the Congress lost the elections how could he continue in office. The BJP leader said the commission had not created any constitutional crisis as it was the Chief Minister who was doing so by pointing fingers at the commission.
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Early poll thwarts Cong game plan
Mandi, October 19 The four projects are - Rs 50 crore dam on the Beas, stone laying ceremony of a government medical college, IIT and the inter-state bus terminus. Apart from these four projects, the expected merger of the Mandi Urban Cooperative Bank (MUCB) with the State Cooperative Bank, which Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had taken to the Reserve Bank of India, has been put on hold due to the Assembly elections for the three tribal segments starting on November 14. The government had identified the land for setting up a government medical college as announced by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh early this year. He had also directed the IPH Department to prepare the plan for the construction of a dam on the Beas to beautify the town. Similarly, he was expected to the kickstart the construction of a new bus stand in this town. He also had to lay the foundation stone of the proposed IIT at Mandi as announced by finance minister P. Chidambram earlier. But all calculations went haywire, revealed sources.
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BJP mahila morcha seeks 33 pc quota
Dharamsala, October 19 She said the reservation for women in the panchayati raj system had helped in uplifting the women across the nation and now there was a need to give them their due share in Parliament as well as the state legislative assemblies. She said the morcha had invited applications from deserving women candidates to contest the Assembly elections and after the scrutiny of the list, it would be sent to the state executive of the party for consideration. Earlier, while addressing the gathering, she lashed out at the Congress government in the state and said during the past four years atrocities on women had increased manifolds.
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CPI nominee for Hamirpur
Hamirpur, October 19 After holding a meeting of the district committee of the party, national executive member of the CPI Desh Raj Sharma said party candidate Vipat Raj would contest the Hamirpur seat while other candidates would be announced after consultation with the CPM and other secular parties. He said the issue of environment was of great importance in the state and the way development was being carried out would have a far-reaching impact on forests and natural resources.
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11 Bharmour polling stations hypersensitive
Bharmour, October 19 The Chamba DC said the Bharmour tribal constituency was going to the polls on November 14 along with Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti in the first phase of the Assembly elections. He said the Bharmour Assembly constituency had been divided into three sectors such as Bharmour, Holi and Pangi for smooth elections. The total number of the electorate was 55,108, including 28,557 male and 26,554 female, in this constituency. |
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Kokje briefed on poll arrangements
Shimla, October 19 She said the necessary directions had been issued to the returning officers for smooth conduct of poll and photo-electoral rolls had been published. She also said the model code of conduct would be strictly enforced and its compliance would be ensured.
— TNS |
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Man held for death of daughter-in-law
Bilaspur, October 19 SHO Rajinder Jaswal said villagers and relatives rushed Seema Devi to district hospital here as she was said to have consumed some poison but Seema Devi died in the way to PGI, Chandigarh, as she was in a critical condition. Jaswal said Seema was married to Jagbir Singh about 4 years ago. It was allegedly said Seema was repeatedly mentally harassed by her in-laws for money, which she could not fulfil due to poor financial position of her parents. |
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Tension over woman’s death
Kangra, October 19 Police sources said Sweety, a mother of two, was allegedly tortured by her in-laws and later she consumed poison. She died at a hospital in Dharamsala. Sweety’s relatives belonging to Rajol village gathered in large numbers at Baidhi village as they wanted to cremate her in the courtyard of her in-law’s house. The police was deployed in the area to avoid any untoward incident. The police arrested Sweety’s husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law and booked them under Section 306, 498 A and 34 of the IPC. Her body was cremated at her in-laws’ village.
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Sherwood defeats APS
Solan, October 19 Sherwood won by 4-2. While Harshveer, Sarwesh, Prithul and Abhay of Sherwood scored one goal each, Tanishq and Deepak were the goal scorers for APS, Dagshai. In another match, YPS, Patiala, defeated St. Soldier Divine Public School, Panchkula, by 9-0. Sukhraj remained the top scorer with 6 goals, while Gurwinder scored 3. In the third match, a last minute goal by Gurnoor of YPS, Mohali, helped his team win the match against PPS, Nabha, facilitating their entry into the semi-finals. Yesterday, on the first day of the event, Pinegrove School defeated YPS, Mohali, by 8-0. Sherwood College, Nanital, opened their account against St. Soldier Divine Public School, Panchkula, and defeated them by 9-0. The Punjab Public School, Nabha, defeated Shivalik Public School, Chandigarh, by 8-0.
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Doc held on molestation charge
Nahan, October 19 According to sources, Khankari Devi had come for treatment at the PHC. She alleged that the doctor on duty made an attempt to molest her after which a group of women thrashed him. Soon residents of the area gathered outside the PHC and gheraoed it. The protestors ended their protest after three hours. SHO Paonta Narvir Rathour said a case had been registered against the doctor under Section 354 of the IPC. Sirmaur SP J.P. Singh said the matter would be investigated and the offender would not be spared. |
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Mother-in-law, wife shot at
Bilaspur, October 19 ASP Vimal Gupta said Gauri Shankar was said to be on leave or probably was without any leave from his Army duty and he went to the house of his mother-in-law where his wife had been living for the past 3 years, and reported to have fired upon his wife with a “desi katta” injuring both Rekha Sharma and Classo Devi seriously. Both injured were first rushed here to the district hospital from where they were referred to Snowdon Hospital, Shimla . Vimal Gupta said the police had recovered the weapon of offence and also the bullets from the site of crime. The police has also recovered 17 live bullets of 9 mm and 7 live bullets of SLR rifle from Gauri Shankar. |
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Fake currency seized
Hamirpur, October 19 A Bihari labourer, Mahadev said he was given the currency notes by a contractor with whom he worked. Nadaun SHO Ashish Kumar said “We have sought police remand of the accused and will interrogate him further to investigate every aspect of this case”. “Efforts are on to trace the contractor named by the labourer” he added. |
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SFI threatens agitation
Chamba, October 19 SFI leaders alleged here today that the stipend had not yet been paid to the ST students even though this had been given in many other colleges.
— OC |
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