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Cong, BJP paving way for rebels’ return
Cong plans homecoming of rebels
Give representation to devoted party workers: PCC chief
Efforts on to ensure students’ poll peaceful
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Company gives 5 lakh to victim’s dependants
State may become smoke-free zone
Compilation of churches, cemeteries
Vehicle lifters on prowl
BSP seeks judicial probe
Cooperate with police, says DC to devotees
Roads blocked due to rain
Patients not served dinner
BJP flayed for misguiding people
Administrative block awaited
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Cong, BJP paving way for rebels’ return
Shimla, August 9 The BJP has taken the lead in this regard as there is talk of two rebel leaders Rakesh Pathania and Hira Lal, both sitting legislators, to be taken back into the party as associate members. Besides the two rebels, the independent MLA from Theog, Rakesh Verma, too, is all set to join the BJP as associate member. In fact, Rakesh Pathania, MLA from Nurpur, and a trusted Dhumal man has met BJP national president Rajnath Singh and conveyed his desire to associate with the party. “He assured me that justice would be done and I am hopeful that soon I will be made an associate member of the party in the Assembly,” said Pathania. On his return to the party fold he says he has never left the BJP and in fact he jumped into the fray to save the party in Nurpur. Pathania contested as an independent candidate after the party fielded Malvika Pathania as the BJP candidate. He along, with another rebel MLA from Karsog Hira Lal, can join the party only as associate members as under the Anti-Defection Law, they cannot formally join any political party. On the other hand, state BJP chief Thakur Kaul Singh, too, has given indications of the possibility of return of the rebels, including BSP leader Vijai Singh Mankotia. Though he has clarified that the decision in this regard would be taken only by the party high command but at the same time admitted that presence of the BSP in the election arena was one of the factors for the Congress defeat. Some of the rebel party men in Kullu, including Dharamvir Dhami, could also be taken back in the Congress before the Lok Sabha elections. In another significant political development, Rakesh Verma, too, could join the BJP as an associate member in the House. Verma, who contested as a rebel after he was denied the Congress ticket owing to stiff opposition from CLP leader Vidya Stokes, has also confirmed that he intends associating with the BJP. His supporters say that he has been compelled to do so as villages, which were his stronghold, would become part of the Chopal constituency in the next elections due to the delimitation process. As such he is keen to become associate member of the BJP so that in the next Assembly elections he is fielded as the ruling party candidate from Chopal. Now it remains to be seen how soon the two parties start the exercise of home coming of its old party men. |
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Cong plans homecoming of rebels
Dharamsala, August 9 The presence of rebel candidates- Pritam Chand from Palampur and Rattan Sharma from
Jawamukhi- at a function organised to welcome him here indicated that the party was undertaking a damage-control exercise. Both the said candidates had contested as rebels against official candidates of the party during the last assembly elections. Kaul Singh said the Congress would bring all its rebels back into the party fold. The BJP won the last elections due to dissidence in the Congress rather than its own liking among the people. “If the Congress becomes united, it will rout the BJP in the forthcoming parliamentary elections,” he said. When asked about the homecoming of Vijay Singh Mankotia, Congress rebel from Kangra who is the state president of the BSP now, he said it was also possible. However, the final decision regarding the matter would be taken by the party high command. “We are looking to bring all Congress leaders, who joined the BSP back into the party fold,” he added. However, Mankotia, when contacted on the phone, refused to comment on the issue. He said, “I am on my way to attend a three-day meeting called by BSP president Mayawati in Lucknow and would not like to comment on the issue.” Kaul Singh, who was on his first visit to Dharamsala after taking over as the party president, was welcomed by all leaders and MLAs of the district, except former HPCC president Viplove Thakur. Congress leaders forgot their differences when it came to welcoming Kaul Singh. Kaul Singh resolved to win all four parliamentary constituencies in the next elections. He said Dhumal was considering the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency as a safe bet for his son. However, the Congress was preparing to topple the BJP even in that constituency. He flayed the BJP for taking credit for the Central schemes that were started in the state during the stint of the previous government. Most of the development schemes being run in the state were started by the previous Congress regime, he added. “The present BJP government has failed to launch even a single new scheme of its own in the state,” he added. |
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Give representation to devoted party workers: PCC chief
Nurpur, August 9 Addressing a press conference today at a hotel near here, Thakur said after completing his statewide tour he would visit party’s high command in Delhi to discuss on the issue of the new body. He said youths, women and Dalits would get due honour in the new working committee of the Congress. He claimed that he was touring the state to meet the party workers and to rejuvenate them. He said the deserted Congress activists would be taken back in the party in a democratic way to strengthen the party in the state. Criticising the Prem Kumar Dhumal’s government, Thakur said the BJP was taking credit of the development works done during the previous Congress government. He said The BJP was wasting its energy on mass transfers of government employees and ordering probes. He claimed that the BJP graph in the state had come down drastically during the past seven months. “The health services in the rural areas have being affected due to transfer of doctors serving in PHCs and CHCs,” he said. Demanding a judicial inquiry into the Naina Devi shrine mishap, he said the administration failed to make proper arrangements for the pilgrims, so the tragedy took place. Former minister Sat Mahajan, newly nominated state youth Congress president Man Mohan Singh, Congress MLA Neeraj Bharti, former MLA Sujan Singh and state Congress general secretary Ajay Mahajan were also present on the occasion.
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Efforts on to ensure students’ poll peaceful
Shimla, August 9 In view of the past incidents of violence on the campus, the police is taking all precautionary measures to ensure that the elections are conducted peacefully. The police said additional force was deployed at the Summer Hill police post but during the elections extra forces would be deputed. The Academic Council meeting is scheduled for August 23 and the elections are likely to take place after it. As per the Lyngdoh Committee’s recommendations, the students’ elections must be held after six weeks and before eight weeks of start of academic session. Sunil Gupta, vice-chancellor, said the polls would be held between August 14 and 29. “The exact dates are yet to be finalised, but one thing is sure that we will strictly implement each and every recommendation of the Lyngdoh Committee to ensure fair and peaceful elections,” he said. The authorities of the Himachal Pradesh University are also taking all precautionary measures and want to enforce the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee. The security staff of the HPU, along with the police, are ensuring that no outsiders enter the campus, particularly the boys hostel, where the trouble starts. |
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Shoghi Firing Tribune News Service
Shimla, August 9 Subhash D. Chaudhari, general manager, corporate HR of the company, said the deceased was neither an employee of the Virgo Appliances Pvt Ltd (VAPL) nor hired by a contractor but still the company had decided to help his family. “The cheque of Rs 5 lakh in the name of the dependents of the deceased has been deposited with the Labour Commissioner to ensure that it is not misused,” he said. He said the deceased was on the rolls of a contractor Bhag Singh and was working in the Tigaksha Metallics Pvt Ltd (TMPL), another unit of the company located at distance from the site of shooting. “Speaking strictly from the technical and legal stand point, the dependants of the deceased are not eligible for any compensation, since the incident did not arise out of any aspect related to his employment,” he said. He added that on the day of the incident he left his place of duty before time and came to the place of the incident at the VAPL for reasons best known to him.
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State may become smoke-free zone
Shimla, August 9 The principal secretary, union health and family welfare ministry, has written to the state government to complete the formalities and ensure that the provisions of “The Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisements and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution), Act 2003” are strictly implemented. The process of banning smoking in public places will be brought under force by October. Separate smoking areas at all public places, including hotels, restaurants, clubs and airports, will be mandatory. The Health Department has been asked to constitute a task force at the state and district level under secretary, health, and respective deputy commissioners. It has been pointed out that representatives from various stakeholders, including the police, education, transport, municipal corporation, information bureau, railways, airport authority, Doordarshan and various hotel managements, should be involved in the task force. Strict monitoring was required to ensure that direct or indirect advertisement, promotion or sponsorship of tobacco products was not undertaken. With an outlay of Rs 450 crore under the 11th Plan for the National Tobacco Control programme, the state is likely to receive more than Rs 15 crore for its implementation.
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Compilation of churches, cemeteries
Shimla, August 9 In fact, details of all churches and cemeteries in the state have been compiled and will soon be made public the form of a publication. Most of these cemeteries are not well kept. At some places, graves are in such a bad shape that it becomes very difficult to figure out as to who lay buried there. “Having a proper compilation of cemeteries and churches will be of great help to foreign tourists who wish to visit places of historical importance, especially from the point of view of the British rule,” said a senior official. Eminent writer Raja Bhasin has undertaken the arduous task of documenting the churches and cemeteries and compiling the information as a book. Information has been taken from earlier records collected by the British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia and other Churches. Information has also been taken from Abid Ali Gill, a senior librarian at the Qiad-i-Azam Library in Lahore. The book will have details of the year in which a church was built, date of its consecration and when the first divine service was held there. Similarly, the information about cemeteries will have details about the year it was opened, date when the first grave was laid, how many graves it has and the date till it was in use. The account of cemeteries will make specific mention of the graves of prominent people, who were laid to rest there. Besides coming out with the book on the churches and cemeteries in Himachal, the Tourism Department also plans to take steps to ensure better care and maintenance of these cemeteries, especially those not in use. |
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Vehicle lifters on prowl
Kangra, August 9 They left the stolen scooter at Ansoli and stole a jeep (HP 40 3140) from there. The stolen jeep developed a snag and the members of the gang abandoned the jeep near the Matour bridge on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway. They then managed to lift another car (HP 40 3469) owned by Uttam Chand from Matour. Today the Palampur police found the stolen car abandoned near Kalu Di Hatti, 40 km from here. Kangra subdivisional police officer O.P. Jamwal confirmed the incident and said only Uttam Chand lodged a police report and the investigation was in progress. Kangra district police chief Atul Fulzele said it seemed that during the Navratra's some anti-social elements with criminal background from outside the state indulge in such activities, but the police take action.
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Naina Devi Tragedy Our Correspondent
Bilaspur, August 9 State general secretary of the party and former MLA from the Kot Kehloor constituency Krishan Kumar Kaushal here said today the magnitude of this tragedy spoke volumes about the carelessness and apathy of the government regarding essential arrangements that requires exemplary punishment to the guilty of this tragedy. Kaushal said the government should increase financial aid to the bereaved families to Rs 5 lakh, while financial help for the injured should also be doubled. He said the Naina Devi Temple Trust, which has been squandering away most of the offerings of the temple on wasteful constructions and in furnishing offices and for purchasing costly vehicles, should be made to shell out a handsome amount for families of the victims. Kaushal said the temple trust had started a construction campaign on the temple hillock and now there was hardly any space left even for standing of a few hundred devotees and this was one of the major factor which contributed in adding to the toll of the tragedy. Kaushal also said a magisterial inquiry could not pin point the real causes and reasons and remedial measures and if the government was really interested in getting some hard lessons from incidents, then it must immediately order a high-level judicial inquiry.
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Cooperate with police, says DC to devotees
Bilaspur, August 9 He said every devotee owned a duty towards the society and others so that every body was helped in reaching the deity easily and getting peaceful darshan without much difficulty despite a large number of people gathering there. Chairman of temple trust and state subdivisional magistrate P.C. Akela said up till now more than 2 lakh devotees had visited the temple and had offered Rs 43.80 lakh, 457 gm gold and 24 kg silver. He said the district administration had made adequate arrangements to ensure total peace and order for helping devotees. Meanwhile, officiating DGP Sohan Singh, IG (P) law and order Sita Ram Mardi, IG, central zone, Anurag Garg and SP K.K. Indoria are presently looking after the security and safety arrangements at the fair along with a large contingent of other police officers and the district officers. Mardi said about 1,000 personnel, including the police and the Home Guards, had been deployed on duty. He said a total of 35,000 devotees visited the shrine yesterday on 7th day of the fair.
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Roads blocked due to rain
Nahan, August 9 Residents were facing tough time as their cash crops like tomato and other vegetables were rotting in fields in the absence of a transport system. The Paonta-Shillai road was closed for the traffic as illegal mining on roadside have created havoc in the area. This time the road has closed at Hevna where debris of the illegal mining have blocked the traffic. Last month also the traffic was repeatedly interrupted, including once for a week and for three days between Sataun and Kamrou village, due to the mining which have caused heavy damage to the road. The Nahan-Renuka road remained closed for more than eight hours as the landslides blocked the road near Badolia bridge. The road could be opened for the traffic in the evening. More than 12 buses of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation were stranded in the rural areas, a spokesperson said. |
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Patients not served dinner
Sundernagar, August 9 Dr Krishan, BMO, said the dinner was served late due to poor supply of water. Water was brought in buckets and the dinner was prepared at 9.30 pm. He added that food for 48 patients was prepared in the hospital, but it was served late. On the other hand, some of the patients said the staff told them that no dinner would be served in the hospital. So, they went out for the dinner. B.S. Mastana, executive engineer, IPH, denied the fact and said some of the employees of the hospital had liquor so the food was not prepared. He said it was not the mistake of his department. The residents have appealed to the Chief Minister to order an inquiry into the matter. |
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BJP flayed for misguiding people
Chamba, August 9 Addressing the Congress leaders here yesterday, Thakur flayed the BJP for misguiding the people of the state. He said the BJP had worked like a businessman. “The BJP has done business in the name of Lord Rama.” Thakur alleged. He said the BJP, after coming to power, had forgotten the woes of the people. It had always acted to divide the society. “The Congress has always worked for the development of the state. The Congress means development,” Thakur claimed. |
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Administrative block awaited
Kumarhatti, August 9 The sanatorium had deposited Rs 56 lakh with the PWD, but till now the department did not start the construction. The pleas to start the work were also made to the PWD and the director (health), but all in vain, sources said. |
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Himachal
Pradesh Congress preside- nt Kaul Singh Thakur has under- lined importance of
giving due representation to the devoted and hard-working party workers.
