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Assembly nod to Rs 1208-cr grants
Contentious Issues
Question Hour
Economic Survey |
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BJP misleading people on Budget: Cong
Loan waiver no solution: BSP
Eco-Tourism
Tibetan parliament meets
Flying squads book 207 examinees
March to save Ram Setu
4 killed as jeep falls into khad
Hydel Projects
I-T raids on three shops in Hamirpur
Arrested for embezzlement, remanded
Holi festival from March 19
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Assembly nod to Rs 1208-cr grants
Shimla, March 5 The supplementary demands equal to Rs 233.19 crore under plan schemes, Rs 236.98 crore under centrally sponsored schemes and Rs 738.78 crore under non-plan schemes were passed without any discussion. The supplementary demands for grants, presented by Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, were passed along with the Appropriation Bill. The major expenditure proposed under plan schemes is mainly for infrastructure and development schemes. Out of the total amount Rs 34.65 crore is for construction and completion of ongoing capital works of the Education Department, Rs 66.10 crore if demanded for buildings and roads, Rs 40 crore for providing equity in hydro-power projects and Rs 27.65 crore for capital works in tribal areas. Under the non-plan expenditure, Rs 170 crore has been demanded to pay the salary arrears to the regularised daily wagers of the PWD and the IPH Department. A sum of Rs 168 crore is to meet the increased pension liabilities. A sum of Rs 70 crore would be for release of subsidy to the Food and Supplies Department under the public distribution system. Under the centrally sponsored schemes, Rs 166.90 crore has been provided for drinking water schemes and Rs 16.17 crore for the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna. |
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Contentious Issues
Mandi, March 5 They will discuss the long-pending contentious issues like transfer of the 110-MW Shanan hydropower project to Himachal and HP share in 990-MW Beas-Sutlej Link project, 1,000-MW Bhakra Dam project and 360-MW Pong Dam project. They will also discuss the Naina-Devi-Anandpur ropeway project. According to sources, Dhumal-Badal parleys assume significance as both CMs have decided to take up these issues within a few months of the formation of the BJP government in Himachal and the SAD-BJP government in Punjab. Similar talks were held between former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh during their regimes, but nothing concrete could emerge out of those meetings. The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are united on their demands of Himachal’s share of 7. 19 per cent in the BBMB-run Bhakra project and transferring of the Shanan project to Himachal as per the Punjab Reorganisation Act. As of now, the state is getting a negligible amount of electricity from the Shanan project, which exists as a “mini Punjab island” in Jogindernagar as per the Mandi Darbar Agreement of 1925. It is getting 15-MW electricity from the Beas-Sutlej Link project in Mandi district and 2.15 per cent electricity from the Bhakra project in Bilaspur-Una districts and nothing from the 360-MW Pong Dam project. Sources said the parleys were being viewed as a step in the right direction. However, complicating the things was the fact that Haryana and Rajasthan were also involved in the Bhakra project. Moreover, Himachal had moved the Supreme Court demanding its share as per the Punjab Reorganisation
Act. |
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Question Hour
Shimla, March 5 Intervening during question hour in the state Assembly today, the Chief Minister informed the House that he had personally taken up the matter with the Prime Minister, who had discussed it with the Chief Justice of India. “A meeting of the Supreme Court judges is likely to be held on the issue and the union minister of state for forest and environment had assured that he would try his level best to resolve the matter when it is taken up by the green court of the Supreme Court,” Dhumal said. He said many projects, especially those of road construction were being delayed due to a directive of the single Bench of the high court and the state government had gone in appeal before a double Bench, on which the orders were still awaited. He said in many cases even the permission to fell the tress had been obtained and the money deposited with the matter being in court, work had not been started. Earlier, replying to a question raised by Gangu Ram Musafir of the Congress, PWD minister, Gulab Singh Thakur informed the House that the road construction was the top priority of the government and by the end of this financial year, all villages with a population of 500 and above would be connected. “Efforts will be made to connect all villages between 2009-2012 and then to increase the overall density of roads in the state, as road transport was the only means for travelling in most parts of the state,” he said. Transport minister, Kishan Kapoor, on replying to a query by Roop Singh of the BJP said the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) was suffering an annual loss of Rs 2.53 crore while the cost of plying buses was Rs 23 per km. He added that the HRTC had also given contracts to private individuals to ply their vehicles and had hired three Volvo buses, five 47-seater buses and 28 42-seater buses. Some of the members also raised the issue of construction of new bus stands at various places along with the time frame for completing the ones on which work was underway. |
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Economic Survey
Shimla, March 5 Laying the report of the economic survey for 2007-08 on the table of the House today, he said the state was likely to register a growth of 8.5 per cent against the national growth of 8.7 per cent. The state had registered a growth of 9.2 per cent in 2006-07 against a target of 9.3 per cent. He said the per capita income at current prices, which touched the level of Rs 36,657 in 2006-07, is likely to be Rs 39,819 in 2007-08, which is 20 per cent higher than the national level. As per the advance estimates, the gross state domestic product (GSDP) is likely to be about Rs 31,974 crore in 2007-08 against Rs 28,358 crores in 2006-07. “In view of the liberalised competitive environment and commitment to improve infrastructure, the state is being considered as a preferred destination for investment in industry, power and tourism,” he said. During 2007-08, more than 88 lakh tourists visited the state. These included 3.40 lakh foreign visitors. He said, “Power being one of the most important sectors, the state power policy attempts to address all aspects like capacity addition, energy security, access and availability, affordability, efficiency, environment and assured employment to the people.” Out of the total identified hydropower potential, only 31.2 per cent had been harnessed so far, he added. He informed the House that the primary sectors, including agriculture and allied services, provided employment to 69 per cent of the workers of the state and generated 22 per cent of the total GSDP. “In contrast, the secondary sectors like manufacturing, construction, electricity and water supply contribute 41 per cent to the state economy and the tertiary sector contributes 37 per cent to the GSDP,” he said. Dhumal said the state had 373 medium and large-scale and 34,152 small-scale industries with an investment of about Rs 6,120 crore. “Special attention is being paid towards Bharat Nirman, a scheme aiming at development of basic rural infrastructure, including road connectivity, irrigation, rural water supply, housing, rural electrification and telephone connectivity,” he said. He said concerted efforts were being made by his government to improve efficiency and quality of public services, especially in education, health care and rural extension services. |
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Subsidised Ration Scheme
Shimla, March 5 Addressing a press conference here today, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Vidya Stokes said the BJP regime was trying to mislead the public by stating that no budgetary provision had been made by the previous Congress regime for the subsidised ration scheme started by it. “The fact is that the Virbhadra government had made a provision of Rs 13 crore in the token budget and since our tenure was till March 9, we would have made the required provision in the supplementary budget which is presented in March,” she explained. She said had it not been for early announcement of the elections, the Congress government would have taken the necessary steps in this regard. She said Himachal was the first state in the country to provide subsidised ration to people, which was much appreciated, especially in view of the steep price hike and hence this scheme should be continued by the BJP government.
Former IPH minister Kaul Singh threatened that in case the BJP regime decided to withdraw the subsidised ration scheme, the Congress would not hesitate to launch a statewide agitation as this was an anti-people decision. Stokes also criticised the Dhumal regime for making an unprecedented 25 per cent hike in bus fares. |
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BJP misleading people on Budget: Cong
Shimla, March 5 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the proposal to set up an IIT was already accepted and the necessary notification was to be issued by the ministry for human resources. He said the Congress MPs from the state would soon meet the minister concerned Arjun Singh in this regard. He said the BJP had been unnerved by the overwhelmingly positive response of the people to the Union Budget and its leaders were now indulging in falsehood to mislead the people. He said that the budget was for the entire country and the BJP as a part of its tactics was making a hue and cry in every state by alleging that its interests had been overlooked. The fact was that the loan waiver alone would benefit over 2.5 lakh farmers in the state, while more than 60,000 employees would gain from the hike in income tax exemption limit and thousands of anganwadi workers and helpers would get higher wages. He said PCC chief Viplove Thakur along with other Congress MPs from the state met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and expressed their gratitude for including the Bhanupali-Bilaspur rail project in the budget. |
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Loan waiver no solution: BSP
Bilaspur, March 5 Addressing mediapersons here today, BSP district president Kesh Pathania and general secretary Lekh Ram Sen said the government should come out with a special plan for developing strong will among farmers for improvement of their lot. They said farmers should be saved from the clutches of moneylenders and intermediaries. They should be ensured proper price for their produce. They said the government should also provide relief to those farmers who had spent difficult time and repaid their bank loans. Loan waiver should not become a reason for encouraging loan defaulters. Those who had repaid their loans should also be appreciated. The party has criticised the hike in bus fares and demanded its withdrawal. |
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Eco-Tourism
Shimla, March 5 Stating this while reviewing the functioning of the corporation at a meeting here last evening Forest Minister J.P. Nadda said that new initiatives would have to be taken to face the challenge of globalisation. Diversification was the need of the hour and the corporation could become a profit-making public sector undertaking only by adopting a new business model. The minister said the corporation should look for new sources of income, besides strengthening the traditional sources of revenue generation. The corporation should undertake a detailed market survey for selling its products at competitive rates, which would strengthen its marketing system. Nadda stressed that eco-tourism should be promoted by setting up 'tent colonies' for tourists at identified sites in rural areas. The vast network of forest rest houses could be of great help in providing the basic infrastructure for eco-tourism if it was brought under the control of corporation. He said the government was encouraging cultivation of herbal plants and the corporation should also explore the possibilities of growing herbs on a commercial scale and marketing them. The corporation could also set up projects based on bamboo and take advantage of the growing demand for timber due to the spurt in construction activity. The minister also reviewed the Swan river integrated watershed management project. He said there was need to publicise the activities being undertaken under the project. Public representatives and people from the grassroot level should be associated with the project activities to ensure effective community participation. Additional chief secretary Avay Shukla said all-out efforts would be made to make the corporation a profit-earning unit and a detailed strategy would be prepared for improving its working. Keeping in view the increasing demand for fuelwood in the tribal areas, stress would be laid on preserving available resources, besides exploring other alternatives, for which a detail plan would be prepared. |
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Tibetan parliament meets
Dharamsala, March 5 In his opening address, Karma Chophel, speaker of the parliament, gave an account of events that happened in Tibet in the past six months. He expressed concern over the deplorable human rights situation in Tibet, including denunciation campaign conducted by the Chinese authorities at Gaden Rabgyeling monastry against the Dalai Lama, suppression of traditional Tibetan festival at
Rebkong monastery and arrest of Rungye Adrak. He spoke on lack of positive approach from the Chinese government despite Tibetan leadership’s best effort in creating conducive atmosphere during six rounds of dialogue. Resolutions were passed to mourn deaths of Kyabje Mingling Trichen Rinpoche, head of Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, Congressman Tom Lantos, a champion of human rights and Gonpo Dhondup, a former member of parliament. The members observed a three-minute silence as mark of respect to departed souls. The members welcomed new ministers — Ngodup Donchung, Tsering Dhondup and Chope Paljor Tsering. The budget for 2008-09 will be tabled in the present session.
— PTI |
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Flying squads book 207 examinees
Nurpur, March 5 DALHOUSIE: In order to check cribbing at the examination centres where annual examinations of class XII conducted by the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education, a special flying squad of the board yesterday trapped 10 cases of copying in and around Dalhousie according to a report received here today. The flying squad led by the assistant secretary of the board caught four students while copying at a local examination centre while six examinees were caught copying in a nearby examination centre at Bathri, the report revealed. Officials of the flying squad had registered the cases of copying against these students, the report added. |
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March to save Ram Setu
Nahan, March 5 The protesters were opposing the stand taken by the Union government in the Apex Court recently by filing an affidavit and showing the Union government’s commitment to go ahead with the Setu Samundram Project. A deputation of protesters led by Surender Hindustani submitted a memorandum to the President of India through DC Sirmaur against the stand of the Union government on this issue. In their memorandum they warned if the government does not drop the Setu Samundram Project, a nation wide agitation would be launched to save the pious Ram
Setu. |
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4 killed as jeep falls into khad
Shimla, March 5 The mishap took place around 7.30 p.m, killing all four occupants of the jeep. The deceased have been identified as Nikka Ram (40), Gopal (28) and Lekh Ram (40), all belonging to Bharara village in Sunni. The driver of the jeep, Kishore Kumar, who also died in the accident, belonged to Reckong Peo. The vehicle was on its way from Rampur to Sunni when it met with an accident near the Bhakhelti curve and rolled down 400 metres from the road. Local people informed the Sunni police which pulled out the bodies with difficulty owing to darkness. |
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Hydel Projects
Shimla, March 5 This was stated by minister for Food and Civil Supplies Ramesh
Dhwala. Dhwala also holds labour and employment portfolio. He was speaking on the occasion of National safety Day. He urged one and all to preserve environment by adhering to various laws and bylaws framed in that regard. He said the Factory Act was for safeguarding interests of factory workers and the Labour Department was ensuing it by conducting inspections from time to time. He said licences are issued only to those units that strictly adhere to safety standards under the Act. |
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I-T raids on three shops in Hamirpur
Hamirpur, March 5 While income tax teams recovered over Rs 15 lakhs from Roshan
Jewellers, the details about unaccounted money from iron merchants was being prepared till the filing of this report Hamirpur ITO
T.R. Sharma said: “The raids were routine but these businessmen have been told to file their returns in time and pay advance income tax to avoid further action.” |
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Arrested for embezzlement, remanded
Solan, March 5 He was produced in a local court here which remanded him in police custody till March 14. The Kasauli police had earlier opposed his bail application and arrested him from the court premises here last evening. |
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Holi festival from March 19
Hamirpur, March 5 Cultural functions would also be organised during the festival. |
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