 |
|
|
CM Launches Cleanliness Drive
Hill states to form joint forum: CM
Roop Singh cremated
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Brakel Issue
Brig Mehta’s father rues govt insensitivity
Apple in Lower Hills
Shoghi Unit Shooting
Tunnel project to be taken up with Centre: Speaker
Murder case solved
Two die in truck mishap
Life term for 3
|
|
CM Launches Cleanliness Drive
Shimla, July 8 This was announced by Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal while launching the week-long statewide cleanliness campaign. “The government will monitor the waste being thrown into the rivers and educate the people about it as it causes damage to environment and hydro-electric projects that are coming up in the basin,” he said. Dhumal said the people needed to join hands to stop pollution and ensure that non bio-degradable waste was disposed of scientifically and in an environment-friendly manner. “Nature has bestowed Himachal with abundant natural beauty so it is the responsibility of every citizen to ensure that the ecology of the state was not disturbed and remedial steps need to be taken in this direction,” he said. Dhumal said he would personally monitor the campaign along with his ministerial colleagues, MLAs, representatives of panchayati raj institutions, social workers and NGOs. He said the departments concerned would be associated with the cleanliness campaign, besides making schoolchildren ambassadors of making Himachal an ideal hill state with a clean and pure environment. Transport minister Kishan Kapoor, who holds the portfolio of Urban Development, said cleanliness was important form the tourism point of view. |
||
|
Hill states to form joint forum: CM
Shimla, July 8 Speaking at a ‘Meet the Press’ organised by the Shimla Press Club here today he said: “Issues like special financial grants, hydel generation, recruitment quota in the Army and disaster management are some common areas where we can join hands,” he asserted. He said the holding of the horticulture ministers’ conference here sometime back was a step in this direction. He said government would strike a balance between development and environmental protection but it was wrong to blame hydel projects for environmental degradation and other imbalances. He emphasised that the government was keen to bring about overall development of the state but certainly not at the cost of environment. “We are ensuring that the catchment area treatment plan is implemented and compensatory afforestation undertaken,” he said. He said the government would ensure that power projects did not adversely affect the fragile hill ecology. On the issue of coming up of SEZs he said the government would not forcibly acquire agricultural land. “We are keen to bring about economic activity, development and generate more and more employment opportunities but certainly not against the will of local people,” he said. About the financial position of the state he said “we need to generate resources, cut down on wasteful expenditure, accelerate hydel power generation and create tourism infrastructure so that jobs could be created.” On the issue of filling of two posts of minister in the Cabinet and appointment of chairmen of boards and corporations, he said this would be done at an appropriate time in consultation with the high command. |
||
|
Roop Singh cremated
Dhaban (Mandi), July 8 His wife Nira Devi, daughter Minakshi (11), son Lalit (13), mother Hema Devi, brother Het Ram, close family friends and a large number of people from the Balh valley bade a tearful adieu to their brave son and soldier of the country. ITBP jawans fired 16 gunshots as a mark of respect to the soldier. The body was brought here around 1.30 pm in an ITBP convoy from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. The convoy was led by ITBP inspector Ashok Kumar Tyagi, who was accompanied by the 8th battalion, ITBP, Kullu, the parent battalion of Roop Singh. As soon as the body was brought here, his wife, mother, son and daughter collapsed on the premises of their house. Lalit, a student of class VIII, collapsed into the arms of his maternal uncle crying: “Papa you promised me a computer, give me one”. “On Sunday, he talked to all of us from Kabul. He said he would meet us in September on the “barsi” of his father,” said brother Het Ram, an IPH worker. “But we received a telephone call from the ITBP control room in Delhi around 3 pm telling us that he had been killed in a bomb blast,” he said and burst into tears. “He was always fascinated by the armed forces. He was a good sportsman and a very good person. His death has caused a loss to the entire Balh valley and the nation,” recalled his friend Dinanath. Mandi DC Onkar Sharma laid a wreath on the body on behalf of Chief Minster P.K. Dhumal, while Mandi SP M. Chandra Sekhar laid a wreath on behalf of the President of India. ITBP inspector Chander Bhan laid a wreath on behalf of the ITBP chief and gave Rs 38,000 to the family. |
||
|
Brakel Issue
Shimla, July 8 Addressing a press conference here she said soon after coming to power the government first served notice for cancellation of the projects to the company and then accepted the upfront premium of Rs 173 crore with interest for delay. Not only that it had agreed to allot the project with some conditions that were accepted. Now a fresh cancellation notice was being served, charging the company with misrepresenting facts about technical and financial standing. Simultaneously, a vigilance inquiry was also being pursued. Stokes, who was the power minister when the projects were allotted, maintained that there was no scope for any irregularity as these were awarded on the basis of global tenders. She lambasted Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal on the issue of inflation and asserted that maintaining the price line was the responsibility of both the Centre and the state. However, the Dhumal government was not doing its bit in this regard. Unlike many states which had reduced VAT on petroleum products and provided a subsidy on cooking gas to give respite to the common man Dhumal had not taken any such measures. Referring to the changes effected by the BJP government in the bidding policy for allotment of hydroelectric projects she said restricting the upfront premium to Rs 20 per megawatt was against the economic interests of the state. There was no need to change the policy. |
||
|
Brig Mehta’s father rues govt insensitivity
Coat he couldn’t
wear Kabul being a very cold area, Brigadier Mehta had asked for a long woollen overcoat from his father, which had been stitched and kept ready for him to take to
Afghanistan. “He found Kabul cold too harsh and asked me to get an Afghani-style long coat made for him from his old tailor here, which is lying with me,” says his father. Brig Mehta had taken his father’s old fur coat he bought in London to brave the Kabul cold.
Shimla, July 8 “My son had specifically said that there was great threat to the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan and he had alerted the Indian government about it but unfortunately all such alerts were ignored, resulting in this tragedy” he laments. He says barring four ITBP personnel there was no Afghani security in the embassy, which is against the set international norms. “I would have had no regrets had he died fighting but here he has literally been slaughtered due to the callousness of the government” he says. One can sense the insensitivity of the government. “All that concerns them is whether they have the support of 272 MPs in the game for power,” he says. He laments that while 600 commandos have been deputed in the security of the President, Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi, the government is not much concerned about the common man’s security. |
||
|
Apple in Lower Hills
Shimla, July 8 The achievement could revolutionise horticulture in the lower areas of the state as apple is naturally grown in the high hill areas in the cold sub-temperate climate. He presented apples produced in his farm to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal here today. Appreciating the achievement Dhumal said that scientists would be asked to carry out exhaustive research for growing apple in lower hills and motivate farmers raise orchards. The state government would launch a special campaign to motivate the farmers to diversify their traditional cropping pattern and adopt modern modes by cultivating fast-growing species of apple and other fruits. He said the state government would consider naming the apple variety suitable for lower belts after Hari Man Sharma. |
||
|
Shoghi Unit Shooting
Shimla, July 8 The police had asked Malhotra to join the investigation by Monday, but there was no information about his whereabouts. The summons was faxed by the police to the office of Malhotra in Mumbai, directing him to join the probe immediately. SP R.M. Sharma said, “In case, he did not join the investigations within the next two days, arrest warrants would be issued against him.” The police has arrested eight persons, including Tripathi, the manager of the factory. Malhotra’s staff in Mumbai told the police that he was out of India, but officials said this was immaterial. The workers of the factory and various workers’ union like the Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, the CITU and the CPM are demanding Malhotra’s arrest. They have been holding protest rallies in Shoghi since June 30, when the shootout took place. |
||
|
Tunnel project to be taken up with Centre: Speaker
Chamba, July 8 At present, light vehicles ply via Saach Pass at an altitude of 4,413 m during the summer season while it remains closed for at least half of the year due to winter. With the construction of the tunnel, it will become an all-weather highway with a distance of 110 km between Killar and Chamba. This was stated by Vidhan Sabha Speaker Tulsi Ram after flagging off a 42-seater HTRC bus from Killar to Sural dell in the Pangi valley last evening. He said the issue was discussed at a meeting of the 13th Finance Commission recently. The Speaker said that the introducing HRTC bus service on the newly constructed Killar to Sural road would benefit nearly six thousand inhabitants of the Sural ravine. He said the Alwas-Killar road connecting Chamba would be widened for plying mini buses. |
||
|
Murder case solved
Solan, July 8 Solan SP S.P.S. Verma said four accused, including Sham Lal and Kamal (nephews of the deceased), had been arrested along with Surinder (son of Kamal) and a youth Narayan Dass. “They have been remanded in police custody by a Nalagarh court till July 14,” he added. Nisha Devi (35) resided in Khilli Khobla village of the Ramshahar area. She suddenly went missing on the night of March 19, 2007. Shayam Lal and Kamal were arrested on abduction charge, but were released on bail on September 13, 2007. A month later, a body was recovered from a well at Jharna, near Ramshahar. It had been chopped into pieces. A DNA test confirmed that it was Nisha’s body. Further police investigations revealed that her phone was still in use in the Narkanda area. The investigation revealed that it was being used by some Bihari labourers who had purchased it from Baldev, brother of Sham Lal. Sham Lal later confessed his guilt. The accused had reportedly taken Nisha Devi to a nearby forest on the pretext of axing some khair trees. They, however, apprehended some danger from Nisha Devi as they perceived that she could implicate them in a false case. Sham Lal strangulated her to death and all four then packed her body in a gunny bag and dumped it in a well at Jharna. They revisited the spot and when they saw her body floating in water, they fished it out and chopped it into peaces and dumped these in the well again. Later, the body pieces were spotted by some villagers who informed the police. |
||
|
Two die in truck mishap
Nahan, July 8 According to the police, the truck driver failed to negotiate a curve near Dhali village and the truck rolled into the gorge. Driver Satpal, resident of Kangar Khundu village, and helper Parveen Kumar, resident of Nihog village, were killed on the spot. The truck, owned by a resident of Haryana, was carrying empty cartons for the packing of apples to a village in the Kotkhai area. The police has handed over the bodies to the families after the postmortem. A case was registered and actual reason of the accident was being probed. Yashpal Verma, tehsildar, Rajgarh, has disbursed Rs 5,000 each to the families of the deceased. |
||
|
Life term for 3
Chamba, July 8 The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 each on the convicts. In case of default of payment of fine, they would have to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six more months. The accused murdered Pritam Chand on August 7, 2004, and threw his body in the fields. They made confessional statements on September 12, 2004, at a meeting of ‘biradari’. |
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
