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29 shops, 8 houses gutted at Manikaran
12 panchayats to boycott poll
Decks cleared for induction of 9 officers into IAS cadre
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Corruption major poll plank: Shanta
Rape accused still absconding
Officer held for graft
Andhra CM in Shimla
Commission told to disclose interview marks
BJP keen to have Varun for campaign
Where women voters outnumber men
2 killed in accidents
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29 shops, 8 houses gutted at Manikaran
Kullu, April 30 Eyewitnesses said the fire broke out at around 2.30 am and within a few minutes engulfed the whole area. Former pradhan and one of the victims Chabi Lal said villagers could only take out some historical idols from Vishnu temple but could not save the stock of shops and household goods. Hanuman, Shiv and Laxmi Narayan temples were also razed to the
ground. Karnail Singh, another victim, informed: “Most of the shops were of dry fruits and general merchandise and businessmen had good stock due to the tourist season.” Deputy Commissioner M. Sudha
Devi, Sub-divisional Magistrate Amrit Sharma, Superintendent of Police KK
Indoria, besides many district officers, reached the spot and supervised the rescue operations. The administration also distributed Rs 10,000 each to the fire victims, Rs 5,000 each to the partially damaged property owners and Rs 3,000 each to the tenant shopkeepers as an immediate relief. Official figure of the loss was yet to be assessed, but the spot verifications confirmed that the loss was of more than Rs 1.5
crore. The cause of the fire is said to be a short circuit, but has not been not ascertained yet. Police sources confirmed the names of the fire victims whose buildings were gutted--- Jai
Kishore, Kirna, Yovan Lata, Harsh Nath, Prem Lata, Bahadur and Chabi Lal. The affected shopkeepers include
Jassa, Sudha Devi, Kishan, Raku, Chhotu, Karneil Singh, Ram Pal, Lovely, Sonu,
Kiran, Happy and Subhash. |
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Guv, CM express grief
Shimla, April 30 Dhumal has directed the Kullu administration to provide immediate relief to the affected families, besides taking effective measures for their rehabilitation. As many as 26 families have been affected by the fire. |
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12 panchayats to boycott poll
Dharamsala, April 30 Since none of the politicians had come to their help, they would vote for none, they said. There are about 9,000 voters in these panchayat areas and most of them are likely to stick to the poll boycott decision. The decision would affect the livelihood of about 15,000 residents of the Chota Bhangal area, farmers alleged. The said area is one of the remotest areas of Kangra district where people are dependent on forests for daily needs. Now that the area has been converted into wildlife sanctuary, it has fallen under the jurisdiction of the Wildlife Department. A Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court has issued orders prohibiting removal of dead, dying and diseased trees from any national park or sanctuary area. The member secretary of Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in direction to the Chief Secretary of state had also stated that certain instances had come to their notice where felling of trees, bamboos, digging of canals, mining, collection of sand or boulders, laying of transmission lines etc had been allowed without prior permission of the Supreme Court. The said activities were a violation of the Supreme Court orders, the committee said. The farmers said they had submitted memorandums to the government against notifying these areas under the wildlife sanctuary. However, their demand had fallen on deaf ears of the government. Experts feel the government should come out with a proper rehabilitation plan before bringing any area under a wildlife sanctuary. Arrangements should be made for giving employment on preferential basis to the persons likely to be adversely affected by such decisions, so that they do not feel aggrieved. With the people of this remote area being small in number, none of politicians has come to them till date with assurance to redress their grievances. |
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Decks cleared for induction of 9 officers into IAS cadre
Shimla, April 30 The promotion of the officers had been embroiled in legal wrangles as some non-ex-servicemen officers had challenged the seniority list in the high court on the grounds that some officers had been given seniority on the basis of service in the Army which was in violation of rules. The high court had quashed the seniority list, following which the state framed a new seniority list in which the ex-servicemen officers were placed according to their original date of joining, without assigning any benefit of service put in the Army. However, the order of the high court was challenged by the aggrieved ex-servicemen officers in the Supreme Court that ordered status quo. The apex court today allowed the Union Public Service Commission to give effect to the recommendations subject to the outcome of the case, while admitting a special leave petition. In the meantime, the number of vacancies has increased to 19. After the induction of nine state administrative officers, 10 more posts will be available. A departmental promotion committee meeting will have to be convened rather early to fill the remaining vacant posts. The officers who are in line for induction into the IAS cadre are: Sekhar Gupta, Mohan Chauhan, RS Gupta, Rajinder Singh, Amar Shingh Rathore, Padam Chauhan, Arun Sharma, BM Nanta and PS Draik. Secretary (personnel) Daljit Dogra said the union public service commission would now send recommendations of the departmental promotion committee to the state government for confirmation. Thereafter, the case of the nine officer for induction into the IAS cadre would be sent along with the recommendation of the state government to the Government of India that would finally issue the notification. The entire process could take two to three weeks.
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Corruption major poll plank: Shanta
Hamirpur, April 30 Addressing mediapersons here today, he said, “The Congress has always tried to help people involved in corruption cases and withdrawal of Interpol notice against businessman Ottavio Quattrochi by the CBI has once again proved the fact.” He said, “The first task of the NDA government after coming to power at the Centre will be to bring back money earned by Indians through corrupt means and deposited in Swiss banks. That money, around 64 lakh crores, can help in removing poverty in the country.” The BJP leader said, “UPA allies are fast losing ground in this election and it is now becoming clear that it will not be able to form the next government at the Centre.” He also criticised the UPA government for failing to control prices of essential commodities. He said, “The next government at the Centre would be formed by the NDA and the BJP would try to push forward the basic issues of the party like the Ram Mandir issue, abrogation of Article 370 etc. Even if consensus is not reached on these issues with NDA constituents, these issues will be focused independently by the party.” He praised the work of the state government over the past 15 months. |
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Rape accused still absconding
Sundernagar, April 30 According to a report lodged with the police yesterday, the accused teacher, Dharam Singh, called the student in a separate room and allegedly raped her. He threatened her not to disclose about the incident. This matter came to light on Tuesday following which family members of the victim lodged a complaint in this regard. As per the statement of the victim, she is studying in the middle school, Neri, which is adjoining to the primary school. None of the teacher was in both schools on that day except the accused. A medical examination report has proved the crime. The police has registered a case under Section 376 of the IPC and a manhunt has been launched to arrest the accused. |
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Officer held for graft
Shimla, April 30 ASP, Vigilance Daljeet Thakur informed that the accused had demanded the bribe for releasing the payment for construction of canal under flow irrigation scheme in Hachad village. A team headed by DSP, Vigilance, Balbir Singh Jaswal caught the officer red-handed when he was taking money from Jagmohan Singh, president of Krishak Vikas Sangh, Sanaur Dhamla village under Rajgarh tehsil. A case under Section 7 and 13 (1) (d) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 has been registered against him at Nahan.
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Andhra CM in Shimla
Shimla, April 30 He is staying in the secluded Wildflower Hall Hotel of the Oberois, near here. He is having a quiet holiday with his wife, sons, daughter and other family members. The Congress leaders were unaware of his presence in the city and only the police which has to make arrangements for the security of VVIP’s knew about his visit. Although the city is experiencing an unusually hot summer and quite warm for the early part of the summer, it will provide the much-needed relief from the oppressive heat wave sweeping the plains and help him recover from the fatigue of the gruelling election campaign. |
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Commission told to disclose interview marks
Shimla, April 30 The order came on a petition filed by Ashu Jethi and Vijay Puri, alleging that the commission has selected a less meritorious person as a college lecturer in Hindi on contract basis. The petitioners alleged that the commission had not disclosed the marks of the interview. A Division Bench comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice VK Ahuja directed the secretary of the commission to explain why the system of consensus for allotting the marks in interview has been adopted and inform the court whether members of the selection board had awarded the marks separately or not. The Bench also asked the secretary to explain whether the marks of written test were include while preparing the merit list and if not then the court observed that the entire selection process was against the law laid down by the Supreme Court. The court directed the secretary of the commission to file reply before May 24 and directed to list the case for further hearing on June 3.
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BJP keen to have Varun for campaign
Shimla, April 30 Even as the top brass of the BJP, LK Advani and Narender Modi, are scheduled to address election rallies in various parts of the state, the youth in the BJP is particularly keen to have Varun Gandhi as a match to Rahul Gandhi. The state has added over 1.5 lakh new voters ever since the last assembly elections were held in 2007. The BJP and the Congress are making all-out efforts to woo the youth. BJP leaders point out that despite allegations of dynastic rule, both Rahul and his sister Priyanka have charisma that appeals to the youth. “The top brass of the BJP, including Advani, Modi, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh, will be in the state, but none of them has the kind of youth appeal Rahul has,” admitted a young BJP MLA. He and some other BJP leaders had conveyed to the party high command that if possible Varun should address at least one rally in Himachal, he said. State BJP chief Jai Ram Thakur said the programme of senior leaders had been finalised. However, all options were open and, if needed, efforts would be made to get Varun to campaign in Himachal, he said.
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Where women voters outnumber men
Chamba, April 30 Giving this information here today, Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer Maneesh Garg said during the elections, around 3,22,910 voters of Chamba, including 1,58,693 female, would exercise their franchise. “Out of the total five Assembly constituencies in Chamba, four assembly constituencies - Churah (SC-reserved), Chamba, Dalhousie and Bhattiyat fall in the Kangra parliamentary constituency while the Bharmour (ST-reserved) Assembly constituency falls in Mandi parliamentary constituency,” the district electoral officer said. He said 52 sector officers had been appointed to oversee the poll staff and conduct of poll.
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2 killed in accidents
Shimla, April 30 The incident took place when the deceased identified as Madan Dogra was learning driving from a professional driving school on the bypass when a truck coming from the opposite direction hit the vehicle being driven by him.
Dogra died on the spot while the other occupant was hurt. Bilaspur: Manjinder Singh, who was driving a heavily loaded truck (HR-04-J8188), was crushed under it and died on the National Highway No 21, near Dhar Kansi village in the Suharghat area, yesterday. The mishap took place when the truck developed some snag. The deceased was a resident of Punjab.
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9-year-old drowned
Kangra, April 30 The children accompanying him raised an alarm and villagers rushed for his help. He was brought out of the river and was rushed to a local hospital where he was declared brought dead.
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Ban on arms
Bilaspur, April 30 |
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