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Strong leadership our
strength, says Dhumal
Terms UPA govt the weakest
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CD case: Vigilance sends questionnaire to ex-CM
History favours ruling party in Kangra constituency
Support emerges for Narinder Thakur
EC doesn’t know duties of legislators!
Remove photos of political leaders: EC
BJP dismisses Thind’s allegations
Office-bearers to meet on April 10
Govt machinery misused
Venues finalised
MC seeks waiver of water charges
Erratic BSNL services continue
Excise inspectors from various states join hands
Rain, hailstorm hit wheat crop
Alert villagers foil wheat smuggling
Govt to apply for award
World Health Day
Himachal Day function on April 15
Policeman stabbed
Woman’s murder: DSP appointed inquiry officer
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Strong leadership our
strength, says Dhumal
Dharamsala, April 7 The party workers most of them mobilised by local MLA and Transport Minister Kishan Kapoor gathered in lines along the market with garlands in their hands. A band party was also arranged and the workers busted crackers near the rally venue. It also led to traffic chaos for some time in the market. The CM said strong leadership is the main strength of the BJP over the Congress. The Congress had failed to check terrorist attacks in various cities of the town when it was in power. He said the Congress was aiming at coming back in power with the help of other UPA associates. However, the UPA associates have already disassociated themselves from the Congress. The NCP is tilting towards the Third Front and Laloo, Mulayam and Paswan have formed their own front. Party candidate from the Kangra constituency Rajan Sushant listed the achievements of the BJP government in the state. In the last one year the BJP had provided benefits to all sections of society in the state. Many projects, including medical college in Mandi and Palampur, IIT in Mandi and NIFT in Kangra have also come in because of the efforts of the present state government, he claimed. Kishan Kapoor alleged that the previous Congress government had ignored the Dharamsala area. The condition of both the roads leading to Dharamsala was very poor. The present government after taking over had improved its condition. Minister for IPH Ravinder Ravi, Food and Civil Supplies Ramesh Dhawala, Social Security Sarveen Chaudhary were among other BJP leaders present on the occasion.
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Terms UPA govt the weakest
Kangra, April 7 He was addressing a public meeting in Tandon Club here. He said the Congress had been exploiting people by giving misleading slogans to grab power. Throwing ideologies and principles to winds, the Congress kept seeking help from all political parties to save the government. “But these parties have now deserted the Congress,” he said. The UPA government had failed on all fronts. It could not control terrorism, inflation, unemployment and corruption, he added. He said the BJP government headed by LK Advani would prove to be one of the strongest and the most stable governments that the country had ever witnessed. The gathering was also addressed by BJP candidate for Kangra Rajan Shushant. He was critical of Congress candidate Chander Kumar over the distribution of MP fund by him. He said most of the fund was distributed for a particular assembly constituency in violation of norms. Among others who addressed the gathering were local MLA Sanjay Choudary, former Agriculture Minister Vidiaya Sagar and former Zila Parished chief Rattan Jagat Amba. Dhumal also addressed public meetings at Nagrota Bagwan and Shahpur.
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CD case: Vigilance sends questionnaire to ex-CM
Shimla, April 7 Sources confirmed that a questionnaire was handed over to Virbhadra Singh around 15 days ago. “He was given two weeks to complete the questionnaire, but we are yet to hear from him,” police sources said. Virbhadra could not be contacted for comments on the issue. A separate questionnaire for
Ahluwalia, who remained principal private secretary to Virbhadra Singh, has been sent at his residence by post. “Since he was not available at his residence, the questionnaire was sent to him by post and we presume he has received it,” sources
said. Ahluwalia was placed under suspension following his arrest in a disproportionate assets case registered against him by the Vigilance Bureau. The questionnaire has about 15 queries seeking Virbhadra’s version on the allegations levelled by Ashok
Mittal, which find mention in the FIR registered against Thind at the Parwanoo police station. Besides stating that he had allegedly paid Rs 6 lakh to Thind for getting his shops vacated in
Parwanoo, Mittal has said that the IPS officer arranged his meeting with Virbhadra
Singh. Mittal has alleged that he had paid money to Virbhadra Singh and Ahluwalia for stopping acquisition proceedings of a plot that had been allotted to his acquaintance, Mahesh Gupta. The plot, he claimed, was given in relaxation of Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act for setting up of a paper mill at Kala
Jhandu, near Baddi, in Solan. Mittal has mentioned that he was in possession of the gate passes that were issued to them for entering the secretariat on the day when Thind had fixed their meeting with the then Chief Minister. Mittal has also handed over a CD containing the recorded conversation he had with Thind at a hotel in
Chandigarh. As the CD has references to Virbhadra Singh and Ahluwalia, the Vigilance is also seeking clarification from them although the FIR in the case is only against
Thind.
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History favours ruling party in Kangra constituency
Dharamsala, April 7 Last time also, when the Congress was in power in the state, party candidate Chander Kumar had defeated BJP stalwart Shanta Kumar. This time, sitting Congress MP Chander Kumar faces BJP MLA from Jawali Rajan Sushant. A comparative look at the profiles of both candidates reveals that they have almost similar educational background and almost equal political experience. However, both have different personality traits. While Chander Kumar is known as a soft-spoken person, BJP candidate is considered comparatively more aggressive. Rajan Sushant (BJP) l
Resident of Manot Sihal village in Fatehpur tehsil of Kangra district. l
Educational qualification: GAMS and LLB from Panjab University, Chandigarh. l
Became the youngest MLA of the state at the age of 26 in 1982. l
Was elected MLA from the Jawali assembly constituency in 1985, 1990, 1998 and 2008. l
Became the revenue minister during the previous Dhumal government in 1998. l
Claims credit for leading the agitation for the rights of Pong Dam oustees and construction of the Shah canal. Chander Kumar (Congress)
l
Resident of Dhan village in the Jawali area of Kangra district. l
Educational qualification: MA, MEd, LLB. l
Contested as an independent candidate from the Guler assembly constituency in 1970, but lost. l
Joined the congress and remained party MLA in 1982, 1985, 1993, 1998 and 2003. l
Remained the deputy minister for higher education and public relations in 1984-85. l
Was state minister for forests from 1985 to 1989 and agriculture minister from 1989 to 1990. l
Was cabinet minister for power project in 2003-2004. l
Contested as the Congress candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency and defeated BJP stalwart Shanta Kumar in 2004. |
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Support emerges for Narinder Thakur
Hamirpur, April 7 Not only have they openly come out in support of Narinder Thakur, but have also chalked out party’s poll campaign programme for Hamirpur district. Interestingly, DCC members, who had recommended the expulsion of Narinder Thakur holding him indirectly responsible for the alleged “ruckus” in the party meeting on March 28 at Hamirpur, have now adopted a forget and forgive approach. To display their unity on the issue, a meeting was convened by district president of the DCC Sunil Kumar Sharma. It was attended by all block presidents of the party. For putting up a united face, the committee has decided to campaign collectively in favour of the party in the district. DCC president Sunil Sharma, who himself was a strong contender for the party ticket from Hamirpur, said, “We will support Narinder Thakur since AICC president Sonia Gandhi has declared him the party candidate from Hamirpur. This being a party decision, it is our responsibility to work unitedly for his victory now.” Bhoranj block Congress president Ram Chand Pathania, who was also one of the aspirants for the party ticket and had moved a resolution to expel Narinder Thakur from the party, has also openly declared to work for him. All of these leaders are avoiding to comment on various controversial issues. “At present, the most important issue before the party is to work for the success of its candidate. All other issues are secondary,” they maintain.
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EC doesn’t know duties of legislators!
Shimla, April 7 The fact came to light after RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya got information from the authorities concerned in response to his petition under the Right to Information Act. In an application to the commission filed on February 2, 2009, Bhattacharya had sought to know duties and responsibilities of MPs and MLAs besides asking whether there was any provision or rule through which their accountability could be fixed for failure to perform their legal duties. He had put a specific query under what provisions of law they were administered the oath of office besides asking the necessity of doing so. Public information officer (PIO) of the commission Narinder N Butolia replied that the commission did not have such information and it was not even concerned with any of the piece of information sought in the application. Bhattacharya filed an appeal with the first appellate authority asserting that the information supplied in response to his application was vague and misleading. If the commission did not have the relevant information, the application should have been transferred to the department concerned. Principal secretary and appellate authority Shagara Ram said in his order that the matter was discussed with the commission and it was decided to refer it to its adviser SK Mendiratta for advice. In his opinion, the application should have been transferred to the Union Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and a copy of it sent to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice. Accordingly, the application was transferred. PIO of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Rewa Rani informed the applicant that the ministry was not administratively concerned with the subject matter of the RTI application and it did not have the said information. She transferred the application to the Ministry of Law and Justice. Bhattacharya said it was surprising that the ministry of parliamentary affairs, which was directly concerned with the matter, did not have such basic information. In such a situation, the electorate were hardly expected to know the duties and responsibilities of the MPs and MLAs they elected at regular intervals.
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Remove photos of political leaders: EC
Shimla, April 7 It is reliably learnt that directions in this regard have been sent to the secretaries of all departments, yesterday itself. Directions have further been issued by the departments to all offices under it today. Being election time complaints are received from various quarters about display of calendars and other material with photographs of the Chief Minister or leaders of the ruling party in various offices. As such till the election code of conduct is in force all such photographs will have to be removed. The government has already removed all hoardings put up officially about the various schemes of the government with the photographs of Chief Minister PK Dhumal and other BJP leaders. |
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BJP dismisses Thind’s allegations
Shimla, April 7 Convener of the BJP media cell Ashok Kapatai said here today that seeing the number of cases registered against Thind, it appeared that he was not a police officer but a criminal. “Thind’s complaint is not required to know about the properties owned by the Chief Minister and his family as it has been already made public by Dhumal,” he said. He accused the Congress of shielding Thind while it was in power. |
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Office-bearers to meet on April 10
Hamirpur, April 7 The district Congress committee stood unitedly behind Narinder Thakur and would work to see him through in this election, he said. The dates for campaigning would be decided soon, he added. President of Nadaun block Congress committee Capt Prithvi Singh
(retd), Bhoranj block Congress president Ram Chand Pathania, Sujanpur block president Kuldeep Singh
Dogra, Hamirpur block Congress president Suman Bharti and district Mahila Congress chief Raj Dhiman were present during the briefing. |
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Govt machinery misused
Palampur, April 7 Addressing a news conference at the local press club, he said the BJP ministers had been using the government rest houses and their staff for the election campaign. He termed this action as total violation of model code of conduct and sought immediate intervention of the Election Commission. He said during the past one year the law and order situation in the state had gone from bad to worse. There has been sharp increase in the cases of murder and rape in the district. |
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Venues finalised
Hamirpur, April 7 He said in Hamirpur, Gandhi Chowk, NIT ground, at Sujanpur Chowgan, at Nadaun Khareri ground, Kohla ground near NH, Bijahdi stadium at Bijahdi, Tal at Bhoranj, Bharao and Bhareri grounds and open spaces at Jahu and other places can be used for holding public meetings after obtaining permission from the district administration.
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MC seeks waiver of water charges
Shimla, April 7 The MC whose budget is Rs 56 crore owes a whopping amount of Rs 51 crore to the IPH department. The enhanced water tariff which came into effect from February 1, too will bring in only Rs 50 lakh annually. The MC is now hoping that the government will come to its rescue and waive Rs 51 crore it has to pay to IPH. What is worrying the MC is the fact that there should be no water scarcity at this stage when the charges have been increased by 10 per cent. “We have written to the chief minister and IPH minister to waive Rs 51 crore that we owe to the IPH department,” said Narinder Kataria, mayor. He said that at present the water supply situation was satisfactory as about 36 MLD was being received.
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Erratic BSNL services continue
Solan, April 7 The BSNL mobile phones suddenly lost all signals around 7:30 pm last evening and all attempts to make any call by the subscribers failed. Initially, its short message services developed a snag and the messages failed to be delivered or received. Though this fault was rectified after some time when it was brought to the notice of the officials, things become from bad to worst when the cell phones became virtually non-operational. The sorry state of affairs can be gauged from the fact that the system remained ineffective the entire night and it was around 8:45 am this morning that some network was visible on the cell phones. The lackadaisical attitude adopted by the BSNL authorities in rectifying the fault has shown the cellular company in poor light. This was the second major breakdown in the last 48 hours. The subscribers from Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh, Solan, Kasauli, Kandaghat, Parwanoo, etc, were unable to make or receive any call, as the entire system appeared have crashed for nearly 13 hours. Being a holiday today officials were not available for comment. The snag also hampered the GPRS and other cellular services completely. The subscribers rued that they were forced to avail services of private cellular companies now as the BSNL had become unreliable with its system developing a snag at the drop of a hat and there being little accountability among the authorities or else how could another major snag occur within less than 48 hours.
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Excise inspectors from various states join hands
Shimla, April 7 A decision to this effect was taken by representatives of the state excise and taxation inspectors’ associations of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana here today. The meeting was held to chalk out a common strategy to effectively plead their case for higher pay scales and better promotion avenues. President of the host body, the Himachal Pradesh Excise and Taxation Inspectors Association, Surinder Thakur said the association from Jammu and Kashmir would also be a part of the proposed forum, but its representative could not reach here due to inclement weather. The reason to create a common platform was that all excise departments in these states were offshoots of the parent department of Maha-Punjab days and the inspectors were facing similar problems.
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Rain, hailstorm hit wheat crop
Shimla, April 7 The widespread rain accompanied by high velocity winds and hailstorm in some areas has caused around 10 per cent damage to the standing wheat crop, which was ready for harvesting. “Yesterday’s rain and hailstorm could decrease the wheat production by almost 10 per cent as April rain always causes damage to the crop when it is ready for harvesting,” said Dr Sanjay Kumar, a scientist at the National Wheat Research Centre here. Wheat crop could not be sown in many parts of the state due to the long dry spell and in areas where it had been grown using irrigation facilities, it had been hit due to untimely rain, he added. On the other hand, the weather conditions prevailing over the past two days have brought smiles on the faces of apple growers. Experts said the rain before the blossoming stage would provide ample moisture to the plants. “Additional moisture at this stage will help in getting a good crop,” said SP Bhardwaj, a scientist of the Horticulture and Forestry University, Nauni. |
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Alert villagers foil wheat smuggling
Nurpur, April 7 The Indora police confiscated the wheat bags, impounded the vehicle and arrested the occupants of the jeep: Kuldeep Singh and Sukhvinder Singh of Mukerian. A case under Sections 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) has been registered. According to DSP Hari Ram, following the statement of the arrested accused the police has also booked Naresh Dutt, depot holder of the local cooperative society, from whom the former had taken wheat for smuggling into the neighbouring Punjab state. A case under Section 406 and ECA has been booked against him. |
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Govt to apply for award
Shimla, April 7 Justice Bhagwati, who is the chairman of the steering committee of the upcoming Global Convention for Climate Security to be held from June 12 to 14 at Palampur, had in a recent letter to Chief Minister PK Dhumal appreciated the efforts of the government in making the state India’s greenest and eco-friendly state. The convention will be preceded by an Eco-Investors Forum covering its uniqueness as a Global Investor’s destination with huge opportunities in eco-tourism, hydropower and renewable energy. The CM has directed all departments to be available during the convention.
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Need to check accident cases stressed
Tribune Reporters
Shimla, April 7 With the theme for the World Health Day being “Save lives, make hospitals safe in emergencies”, Dr Yogesh Bhardwaj, professor and head of the maxio-facial surgery department, spoke about managing fatal cases and the need for combating loss of lives in road accidents. “In 2007, 1.3 million persons lost their lives in road accidents in India. So, we need to be better equipped and trained to handle such cases,” he said. India topped the global list of the maximum number of fatalities from road crashes, he added. He outlined a detailed protocol of managing seriously injured patients in emergency wards. A live resuscitation procedure was also conducted by postgraduate students of the college. Bilaspur: All citizens owe a duty towards their families and society to remain vigilant about their good health. This was stated by Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Subhash Chaudhary while presiding over the district-level “World Health Day” organised by the District Health and Family Welfare department at Dadhole in Ghumarwin subdivision near here on Tuesday. Chaudhary exhorted villagers that they should ensure regular cleanliness of all their drinking water sources and chlorinate the water. They should gather garbage at a selected place and not to throw it here and there, see that drains have proper exits and all households have their own lavatories which should be kept clean. KANGRA: The World Health Day was celebrated on Tuesday in Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda. A declamation contest, a poster competition and a quiz competition were part of the celebrations. Principal of the college Dr Anil Chouhan said Dr (Maj) Sukjeet passed on skills to the students, especially to the first year students, regarding “interpersonal communication between them and the faculty members”.
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Sanitation week ends
Nurpur, April 7 According to information, Samparpan Association, an NGO playing a key role in Kangra district, launched an awareness campaign to educate people about keeping environment pollution free and avoid open defecation. The women volunteers cleaned the rural area and destroyed polythene and other waste material collected during the cleanliness drive. They also cleaned banks of all natural water resources in the
panchayat.
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Himachal Day function on April 15
Bilaspur, April 7 This was said by Deputy Commissioner JS Rana after finalising arrangements for these celebrations in a meeting with the district officers which included Additional District Magistrate Subhash
Chaudhary, SDM Sumit Khimta and SP Kuldip Sharma at Barthin, about 40 km from here
today. Rana said Chief Minister PK Dhumal would be the chief guest on this
occasion. BHARMOUR: District-level function on Himachal Day will be held on April 15 at Bharmour township, headquarters of Bharmour tribal subdivision in Chamba district. Speaker Tulsi Ram will preside over the function. A meeting with regard to making requisite preparations was held under chairmanship of Chamba DC Maneesh Garg here on Monday.
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Policeman stabbed
Hamirpur, April 7 Sources said an alleged thief, Som Nath of Kot
Tanda, was arrested by some policemen on petrol duty while he was trying to enter a shop in Jahu Bazaar during the night. On being caught, he stabbed constable Rajiv Kumar with a knife. He has been booked under various sections of the IPC and the Arms Act. |
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Woman’s murder: DSP appointed inquiry officer
Bilaspur, April 7 Two more persons are said to have consumed liquor with Khazana Ram at his house on the night after which her wife was found murdered. This was stated by SP Kuldip Sharma after a deputation of large number of villagers led by former Forest Minister Ram Lal Thakur met him in his office last evening here. |
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l
Born on May 30, 1955.
l
Born on May 8, 1944.