Kanjyan (Hamirpur), April 15
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal announced to start the Atal Bijli Bachat Yojna to conserve electricity under which 4 CFL bulbs would be given free to every user. This was stated on the 61st state-level Himachal Day function at Kanjyan under Bhoranj subdivision of Hamirpur district today.

Addressing the people after unfurling the national flag and taking salute at an impressive parade by the contingents of police, home guards and NCC in the Government Degree College ground at Kanjyan he said, “Since sale of electricity is the main source of income in our state we want to conserve more electricity for sale. It had kept Rs 80 crore in the budget for this scheme and would replace all old equipment by December 25, the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.”

Congratulating the people of the state on the Himachal Day he paid rich tributes to our freedom fighters, martyrs and first Chief Minister of the state Dr Y.S. Pramar.

Talking about various welfare measure taken up by his government Dhumal said, “Our government after coming to power had adopted the BJP manifesto as a policy document and granted leave and free travel to women on Bhaiya Dooj and Rakhi, increased widow and old age pension from Rs 200 to Rs 300 per month, had given 50 per cent reservation to women in PRI’s and other elected bodies to empower them and announced relief for single women.”

Talking about development he said roads, education and health had been the priority of our government and remaining 460 panchayats would be linked with roads by spending Rs 10 crore. The government would also bear the 50 per cent cost of crop insurance, would build go-sadans with the help of NGOs and register cattle to deal with the problem of stray cattle, besides, tackling monkey menace.

He said, “The government would provide a subsidy of Rs 70 crore to provide cheap ration, would not charge any registration fee in the government hospital and had kept Rs 300 crore in the budget for giving interim relief to employees.”

A dog show, acrobatic show by police personnel and cultural programme was also presented on this occasion. Education minister I.D. Dhiman, transport minister Krishan Kapoor, several MLAs, DGP Ashwani Kumar, principal secretary power Ajay Mittal, secretary GAD Diljeet Dogra and other officers besides large number of people from the district were present on this occasion.

NAHAN: Presiding over a district-level function in historic Nahan Chowgan on the occasion of the 61st Himachal Day celebrations state horticulture minister Narendera Bragta highlighted the achievements of the state government. He said Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in mere 100 days rule had proved that the state would achieve new heights in development during the next five years of its rule.

He unfurled the national flag and took salute from the impressive march past of the police, home guard, NCC and scouts contingents. A colourful cultural programme was also presented on this occasion.

UNA: Minister for food and supply Ramesh Dhawala unfurled the national flag and took salute from contingents of the Himachal Police, home guard, women home guard and NCC cadets here at Una today.

Dhawala said the second phase of Swan Channelisation from Jhalera to Gagret at the cost of Rs 235 crore would be started soon. School students presented a colourful programme on this occasion. Local MLA Satpal Satti, Gagrest MLA Balbir Chaudhary, chairman zila parishad Balbir Bagga, Una DC Padam Singh Chauhan, SP Gyaneshwar Singh and large number of local people were also present on this occasion.

SOLAN: Deputy Speaker of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha Khimi Ram today unfurled the national flag and took salute of the parade on the occasion of the district-level Himachal Day celebrations here today. The contingents of police, home guard and NCC scouts participated in the parade.

He said the government was committed to uplift the downtrodden and economically weak strata of society. 

Hamirpur, April 15
The Himachal Gaurav Puraskar was given to Hem Raj of Jugahan village under Sundernagar subdivision of Mandi district for saving two women from drowning in a lake by Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal at the Himachal Day function here today.

Reeta Devi, an athlete from Nalni village under Kahodta panchayat of Hamirpur district, was also honoured for her excellent performance in athletics.

State-level Prerna Pursakars were given to Suresh Neotia, chairman of Ambuja Cement, Sanchit Jain, executive director of the Vardhman group of industries, and D.S. Rana, a famous nephrologist.

Chander Singh (Kinnaur), Dhani Ram (Chamba), Parma Nand (Mandi), Kumari Disha Bhardwaj (Bilaspur), Narotam (Mandi), Sita Ram (Kullu), Karyudh Dolma and Yashwanti Negi (both fromKinnaur) were also awarded for their contribution in the field of art and handicraft.

Solan, April 15
Workers of Euro Solo, an industrial unit at Baddi, went on strike in protest against the non-acceptance of their demands today. This battery-manufacturing unit has been operating for the past more than two years and has employed 175 workers.

The protesting workers raise slogans and organised a rally outside the factory gate. The management locked the main gate of the factory and the workers were prevented from entering the unit.

The workers said the management was not paying heed to their genuine demands. Their main demands included restoration of house rent, conveyance and education allowances, annual increment, ESI facility, hike in annual increment and overtime facility as per labour laws. They said facilities like house rent, conveyance allowance and education allowance had been merged with the basic pay so as to fulfil the norm of providing Rs 100 as daily wage per day. They resented that facilities once provided should not be rolled back in this manner.

President of the Baddi-Barotiwla-Nalagarh unit of the All-India Trade Union Congress Satish Sharma and workers union president Sanjay Kumar said after the decision of ruling BJP government to hike daily wages from Rs 75 to Rs 100 per day, the management of the unit had enhanced the monthly salary of all workers from Rs 2,250 to Rs 3,150. Though a hike in salary was brought about, other allowances were withdrawn in violation of various laws. Sharma said EPF had not been credited to their accounts and even ESI coverage was being denied to them.

They workers said though they had adopted peaceful means of protest, the indifferent attitude of the management was creating misgivings about its intentions. They alleged that certain unit officials were threatening them to withdraw their charter of demands. Though they had lodged a complaint with the Baddi police against these officials, no action had been taken so far. The workers rued that the management should come forward and resolve the issue rather than adopting coercive tactics like locking the unit gate.

The unit officials were not available for comments.

Shimla, April 15
Use of century old masjids in the state capital for residential purpose has become a hot issue between the Wakf Board and those residing there as initiatives were being made to get the places of worship vacated.

The initiative of the Wakf Board to get the masjids vacated have been met with still resistance as virtual clashes have taken place over the issue. There were allegations that many people have been residing in the masjids permanently and 
some even run business ventures from here.

It is estimated that about 1,000 persons from various parts of the state were residing in the masjids in the town. This includes the Jama Masjid built in 1902, Moti Masjid and Boileauganj Masjid in 1903, Kutub Masjid in 1940 and Kashmiri Masjid in 1946.

An interesting aspect of the issue is that at one point of time the Wakf Board which is now asking the people residing in the masjid to move out had itself allowed the people to stay there. With the Wakf Board not getting any income from the masjids the condition of these masjids is pretty bad as very little had been done for their maintenance. Around 400 labourers were residing in the Jama Masjid.

One factor, which forced many workers to take refuge in the masjids, was pulling down of the two labour hostels meant for Kashmiri labourers. “The municipal corporation pulled down these hostels on the plea that new structures would be raised but till date they have not fulfilled their promise,” said a labourer, who lives in one of the mosque. More than 200 Kashmiri labourers were residing in these labour hostels.

The municipal corporation instead of making a labour hostel was using the site for parking and was also using it as a serai, leaving the labourers in lurch. Those living in the mosques said they would move out once they were given an alternate place. These people have met Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal and complained against the high handedness of the Wakf Board.

While those residing in the masjids were opposing any move to shunt them out but majority of the Muslim leaders were also of the opinion that such permanent occupation of the masjids is wrong. “According to the law, masjids or any other place of religion cannot be used as permanent residence so those staying there should peacefully move out,” general-secretary of the BJP Minorities Cell Bilal Ahmed said.

Dharamsala, April 15
The US under secretary Paula Dobriansky and special envoy for Tibet will meet the Dalai Lama in Michigan on April 21.

This information was provided by spokesperson of the Tibetan authorities here. They maintained that the meeting in Michigan on April 21 will be the 11th such meeting between US official Paula Dobriansky and the Dalai Lama.

The US spokesperson informed the Tibetan authorities that the meeting is part of our ongoing efforts to talk about the situation in Tibet and to discuss the importance of maintaining a dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Tibetan officials associated with him and the Chinese authorities.

Dobriansky and the Dalai Lama are going to talk about our view that the Chinese authorities ought to engage in a discussion with later. The Dalai Lama has spoken about contacts that have occurred or were occurring between some of his representatives and Chinese officials.

Official spokesperson of the Tibetan authorities said the Dalai Lama had called upon the Chinese media to play a role in resolving the present crises. He said the Tibetans were becoming minority in Tibet. The Chinese government is encouraging Han people to settle down in Tibet.

Chinese was also being promoted as language in Tibet. The officials of the Chinese government are giving top priority to Chinese language. The Tibetan Studies Department in Lhasa is being ignored and political education had increased in monasteries. Tibet has unique culture, language and religion that need to be preserved, he said.

For Tibet separation and independence does not confirms with reality. Tibetans and Chinese have been living together for over 1,000 years. Citing European Union, he said it in better interest of Tibetans that they remain with China. Tibetans just want meaningful autonomy from the Chinese government. The Chinese government should allow independent media teams to report about the ground situation in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama according to the Tibetan authorities had reaffirmed his support for the Beijing Olympics.

Kangra, April 15
The two-day conference on ‘Hinduism and Buddhism- Back to Basics’ with Indian view for global peace, a round table discussion concluded at Jawalamuhki today. Prof Samdong Rinpoche, Prime Minister Tibetan Government-in-Exile, was honoured in the India Splendour Award ceremony during the function organised by Maha Bodhi Society of India.

The conference was attended by Jagat Guru Shanker Acharya Swami Divyanand Teerthjee Maharaj, Prime Minister Tibetan Government-in-Exile Prof Samdong Rinpoche, Swami Chidanand Saraswati (Muniji) Rishiksh, president Parmarth Niketan Ashram Acharya Roop Chander Ji (Jain Muni), founder resident Manav Mandir Mission, Lama Lobzang former member NCM GOI and Dr Rajnish Shukla, Sampooranand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya Varanasi and president Maha Bodhi Society of India Dr Bhupndra Kumar Modi.

There was a world tea party too during the conference.

B.K. Modi, president of Bodhi Society of India, told mediapersons that the main purpose of the conference was to provide an opportunity to establish a common platform for all Buddhist traditions in imparting the teachings of Buddha of global peace. He said the Maha Bodhi Society had the history of Buddhist revival movement, besides engaged humanitarian work and welfare activities through its branches set up in several parts of India and in other parts of the world.

With its faith as the nucleus of universal brotherhood, the society had been working towards spreading the sublime teachings of Lord Buddha and his message of love to all sections of people, irrespective of caste, creed and community, Modi claimed.

Modi also advocated for Dalai Lama’s Indian citizenship.

Nahan, April 15
Horticulture minister Narendera Bragta while addressing a press conference here in the Circuit House alleged that due to sheer negligence of the previous Congress government the progress has taken a back seat in the agriculture and horticulture sector in the state.

He alleged that the previous Congress government did not peruse the crop insurance scheme with the Union Government during its five year in rule despite the fact that an document was put in the state Assembly by the then BJP government on August 28, 2002, in which the Union Government had principally agreed to cover crops of the state under the crop insurance scheme.

He said recently, a loss of Rs 53 crore have been assessed to the mango crop due to heavy frost, but in the absence of any crop insurance scheme no cash compensation could be disbursed to them.

Bragta ragged the Union Government for heavy price rise in the country, which had made the survival of common man very tough.

He said it was a cruel joke with the countrymen that instead of taking effective steps to curb the shooting prices, the Prime Minister and finance minister were appealing the world community to reduce prices of essential commodities in India.

He alleged that the UPA government, which did not take timely effective steps, created the present crises. Even now the behaviour of the Union Government and the statements of its ministers on this issue proves that it ‘was not much serious on this issue’.

Palampur, April 15
A working women hostel known as Ganesh Bhawan constructed at a cost of Rs 1 crore by the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University (HPAU) has failed to attract even a single woman.

Despite best efforts of the HPAU no working woman had opted for accommodation in this building. The university authorities were left with no alternative except to change the use of this building, using it as a makeshift accommodation-cum-guesthouse.

According to information , the government had provided over Rs 1 crore to the university five years back for the construction of this hostel on the campus. However, it took over four years for completion because of official bottlenecks and internal problems of the university, forcing women desirous of having accommodation in this building withdraw their options.

A senior officer of the HPAU said that delay in completion of this building was one of the major reasons for working women not keen to shift to this building with all modern facilities.

Meanwhile, a senior Shimla-based official said the government would look into the matter. He said the funds were allocated for this hostel on the specific demand of the university authorities. If there was no requirement for this hostel the university should not have asked for funds. Regarding change in its use, it could be done only with permission of the government but the university authorities should first intimate the factual position. 

Bilaspur, April 15
The state has made tremendous progress since independence and is now leading in all matters among the hilly states of the country. This has been possible with active cooperation of its sturdy and hard working people.

Addressing the district-level Himachal Day function here today, social justice and empowerment minister Sarveen Chaudhury said the government led by Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal had started a campaign for all round development of the state since it took over and since then it had hardly left any category of population to whom it had not provided any relief.

Chaudhury said the government had been very keen to provide a number of facilities to women folk in particular and they have been provided with 50 percent reservation in PRIs.

She was all praise for increase to Rs 594 crore from mere Rs 231 crore, an increase of Rs 363 crore during this year only under the Scheduled Castes sub-plan in the state.

She said one of the three IRBs allocated to state would be located here at Bilaspur and this would be for women. This would be a great step forward for women empowerment.

The minister said a total of 13,777 persons are getting social security pension here in district and all these would be benefited with an increase in pension since January 1 this year.

Those present on occasion were BJP MLAs Rikhi Ram Kaundal and Randhir Sharma, DC Devesh Kumar, SP K.K. Indoria and a number of Praja Mandal freedom fighters and senior citizens.

Earlier, the minister took salute from the contingents of police, home guards, NCC and scouts and guides and unfurled the national flag. The minister also visited Shaheed Smarak and paid homage to the heroes who gave their lives for the country.

Shimla, April 15
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) will stage protests all over the state on April 16 to highlight the alleged failure of the UPA government to control prices of essential commodities.

The activists of the morcha will form “mehangai TV teams” and take interviews of “people raising loans to purchase ration”. The protests will be held at all district headquarters.

State president of the morcha Rakesh Jamwal said the Left parties supporting the UPA regime would also be exposed. The membership of the CPM had started declining already and it had come down by 10.22 per cent among minorities. The party was more concerned about the nuclear deal rather than issues like price rise that affected the common man.

Dharamsala, April 15
Rinku, a student of class VIII, and Anshul, a student of class 9, have been sent to a juvenile home at Una after they were accused of raping a six-year-old girl.

The incident took place yesterday. The accused took the girl, daughter of a labourer, to their home and raped her. The victim was shifted to the hospital where her condition was stated to be serious. The medical report of the girl has confirmed rape.