|
|
|
|
CD case: Cong protests against FIR
CD issue: CM challenges Cong
‘FIR baseless’
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Virbhadra continues to be in firing line
BJP demands ex-CM’s resignation
Substation near Baddi burnt down
Cop caught taking bribe
NIFT to set up textile study centre
Leopard creates panic
Jobs For Himachalis
IGMC being stalked by thieves
Insurance firm told to pay relief
Three sweet shops raided
|
|
CD case: Cong protests against FIR
Hamirpur, August 5 The Congress activists, accompanied by senior party leaders, assembled at the Gandhi Chowk here and raised slogans against the state government and in favour of Virbhadra Singh. Later, the Congress leaders while addressing a rally at the Gandhi Chowk said, “Registration of an FIR against Virbhadra Singh, senior leader of the party, has exposed the nefarious designs of the state government which they are adopting for narrow political gains.” They said, “Though the reported CD is claimed to be almost 20 years old but the BJP has tried to exploit this issue during the past few elections as it cannot match the development carried out by Virbhadra Singh as a Chief Minister.” The Congress leaders said, “In the last tenure of the BJP government also, Virbhadra was implicated in the Sagar Katha case, but ultimately he came out clean and this time also he will emerge stronger after this case.”
|
||
|
CD issue: CM challenges Cong to file affidavits
Dharamsala, August 5 While responding to queries from mediapersons at the Dharamsala circuit house, the CM said issuing statements in media about the case would not serve any purpose. If Congress really believes that voice on the CD was fake, they should substantiate it with affidavits. He further said the CD containing questionable conversation of the former Congress CM was released by congressmen. Virbhadra Singh moved high court to stop the CD from being made public. Initially, he got the CD sent to a private forensic laboratory at Delhi that held that Virbhadra’s voice was not there on the CD. However, the present BJP government sent the CD to a Chandigarh-based forensic laboratory being run under the control of the union government. The report of the government forensic laboratory had substantiated that voice on the CD was that of Virbhadra Singh. Dhumal claimed that the law would take its own course in the case and the BJP would not try to take its political mileage. When asked if the BJP would demand resignation of Virbhadra Singh as a union minister, Dhumal said it was for the Congress to decide and the BJP had nothing to do with it. In another interesting development, sources said yesterday night former Congress leader Vijay Singh Mankotia, who initially released the CD, held a meeting with the Chief Minister at the Dharamsala circuit house. Mankotia is known as bête noire of Virbhadra Singh. When asked to comment on the uncertainty pertaining regarding the proposed central university at Dehra, the CM said the Congress was playing politics over the issue. We planned to set up a central university at Dehra as there was no suitable piece of land at Dharamsala. On the issue of PTA teachers, the CM claimed that the stance of the government was that their appointments were temporary. They would be removed from service after the appointment of regular teachers. They have, however, been allowed to continue till new appointments are made.
|
||
|
‘FIR baseless’
Bilaspur, August 5 In a statement to mediapersons here today, the Congress leaders declared that the party would rise as one strong rock to defend their innocent leaders. They stated that they would compel the Dhumal government to see the folly of their campaign of hunting Congress leaders and polluting their image to get political advantage to compensate for the ever-sinking image of the BJP government and party among masses of the state. |
||
|
Virbhadra continues to be in firing line
Shimla, August 5 The registration of an FIR in the audio CD case by the Vigilance Department has stirred a cold war between the arch political rivals into open hostility. The development will certainly cause embarrassment to the Congress and provide an opportunity to his detractors within the party to pin him down. He has termed the case as a conspiracy by Dhumal to malign him but much will depend on the attitude of the high command. It is not for the first time that a Vigilance case has been registered against Virbhadra Singh. He fought a protracted legal battle to get his name cleared in the Sagar Katha case also. The vindictive attitude of the Dhumal government boomeranged as the Congress leader again became the Chief Minister in 2003. The Dhumal government had also sent a chargesheet against him submitted by veteran leader Sukh Ram to the CBI for inquiry, which served no purpose and only ensured “clean
chit” to him. A fresh battle has started between the two heavyweights, the outcome of which will not have as much repercussions for the state politics. If the veteran leader loses the latest battle his political career will be over. However, if he repeats his past performance and emerges unscathed from the vigilance net, he will bounce back with added strength. The immediate test for the Congress and Virbhadra will be the byelection to the Jwali and Rohru assembly constituencies. Pratibha Singh, whose name also figures in the FIR, is the strongest candidate and it remains to be seen whether or not high command grants her
the ticket. In case she gets the nod, Virbhadra will get an opportunity to vindicate his position in the court of the people. |
||
|
BJP demands ex-CM’s resignation
Shimla, August 5 Spokesperson of the party Randhir Sharma said the case was registered on merit after the forensic laboratory, Chandigarh, confirmed that the voice in the CD was that of Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh. The voice samples were sent after the two approached the court and insisted that the CD was doctored. If the government wanted to implicate the former Chief Minister for political gains, the FIR would have been registered during the Lok Sabha poll, which Virbhadra contested and won from Mandi. “The Congress charge that the case has been registered in view of the impending byelections does not stand as an outcome of two seats will have no bearing on the government. The party leaders were taking this plea just to avoid embarrassment,” he said. “Morality demands that Virbhadra Singh should quit the high office he was holding in the central ministry immediately,” he added.
|
||
|
Substation near Baddi burnt down
Solan, August 5 Power supply to the entire Baddi and Nalagarh industrial area remained disrupted today though the board managed to restore supply to the domestic and commercial consumers after nine hours of disruption. Though no exact cause of fire was clear till the filing of this report, board officials said it was a mere accident as there was no problem. According to eyewitnesses, presence of a 54,000 litre transformer oil on the substation premises led to a blast which later spread to the entire station. Even cables of two adjoining substations of 100 MVA were also burnt down which led to disruption of power supply to the industrial area. Though the fire office at Baddi was immediately informed about the mishap, board officials said it took them almost half-an-hour to reach the site. As many as four fire tenders, including two from Nalagarh, were pressed into service to douse the fire which was controlled by 5 am. Huge plumes of black clouds could be seen rising and firemen found it difficult to bring the fire under control, which spread fast due to presence of transformer oil. Senior board officials, including board’s chairman RK Jain, member operation SK Chowdhary, director power regulation Sunil Grover and superintending engineer Sham Sharma, gauging the seriousness of the situation reached the spot around 4 am. Board’s local engineer Arun Gupta said they had already started work to restore the power supply, which was disrupted after the accident. He said they were hopeful of restoring the supply by tomorrow afternoon. Grover said a meeting had been held with the industrial associations and they have been directed to work out a roster system whereby a weekly off could be executed by all industrial units. Apart from this, the industrial units who have diesel-generation sets have been requested to generate some captive power and negotiate likewise with the board. Since one of the two transformers of 80 MVA had been burnt down the board was endeavouring to make do with a 100 MVA power supply in the industrial belt. Officials also added that the total 70 MVA power supply available would now be distributed between Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh industrial areas.
|
||
|
Cop caught taking bribe
Hamirpur, August 5 Tilak was trapped by a vigilance team near the hospital chowk with the currency notes of Rs 4,000 that he accepted from Gulshan Kumar of Kot village. Hamirpur SP Asif Jalal told the Tribune, “We have been receiving complaints about illegal activities of the said SI, on the basis of which I had informed the Vigilance Department since they are experts in trapping such offenders.” Complainant Gulshan Kumar had informed that the SI was demanding Rs 5,000 for granting him bail in a case registered against him at the police station related to some dispute about purchase of a house. SP said, “The SI already accepted Rs 1,000. After receiving complaint, a vigilance team was called from Una, headed by DSP Jagjivan Pal that laid the trap and caught Tilak Raj today evening near hospital chowk.” The SI had been arrested under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
|
||
|
NIFT to set up textile study centre
Dharamsala, August 5 It will offer research-oriented PhD and faculty training programmes in fashion designing. Union Minister of Textiles Thiru Dayanidhi Maran disclosed this while inaugurating the NIFT centre at Kangra today. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was also present on the occasion. The CM said the NIFT centre would help in preserving Kangra art. Moreover, local students would benefit from it. Dayanidhi Maran said the centre would be the first fashion institute in the country to offer doctorate-level studies in the fields of fashion designing, fashion communication, accessory design, textiles designing and fashion technology. Out of Rs 60 crore earmarked to set up the centre, Rs 20 crore would be incurred to set up infrastructure and other related facilities for the centre in the 18-acre campus set up in the district. The research studies would start in coming academic year, the minister said. The National Institute of Fashion Technology Act, 2006 empowers it to award degrees to its students from 2007 onward, thereby making it the first fashion institute in the country to award degrees in Fashion Education, Maran said. He informed that NIFT was considering a proposal to publish fashion textbooks for the first time in the country. Reputed publishers had also shown keen interest. Presently, there were no standard prescribed textbooks in this field.
|
||
|
Leopard creates panic
Bilaspur, August 5 Reports said Subhash and his family suddenly woke up at night, when they heard some commotion among their cattle tied with ropes in the courtyard of the cowshed. They rushed to the spot and found that their three-year-old bullock was missing. They searched for it, but found no trace of the bullock then. But one broken part of bullock’s leg was found at a distance from the house this morning, while the remaining part of its body was also lying at a distance. The carnivore had eaten most of its parts.
The village elders have urged government to take suitable action immediately and catch the leopard to save them from it, as it has caused panic among the villagers.
|
||
|
Jobs For Himachalis
Shimla, August 5 The level of employment has been below the stipulated percentage in the major projects and despite all efforts of the government the situation has not improved. The employment clause was made part of the Hydropower Policy-2006, which also provides for monetary penalty and even cancellation of project in case of violation, but it has not been enforced, particularly in respect of major projects. Out of total 12,606 employees in 19 under-construction projects in the Sutlej basin, only 5,865 (47 per cent) were Himachalis, as on December 31, 2007. In all, 9 companies are lagging in providing employment to the Himachalis, including public sector NTPC, which employed 64 per cent in a workforce of 4,117 in the 800 MW Kol Dam project. However, the major defaulter has been Jaypee Industries, which deployed only 1,951 Himachalis (30 per cent) out of 6,546 employees in the 1,000 MW Karcham
Wangtu project. The same company employed only 46 per cent Himachalis in 300 MW Baspa-II project. Other projects included 195 MW Kashang, 4 MW Panwi, 4.50 MW Melan, 5 MW Rakchad, 4.5 MW Sechi and 3 MW Tangling. Moreover, 3,749 persons employed from January 1 to October 31, 2008, only 1324 (35 per cent) have been bona fide residents of the state. The Karcham Wangtu project employed only 22 per cent Himachalis in a total of 2,786, while the figure has been 57 per cent for the 100 MW Sorang project, in which 474 persons have been employed. The government action has been confined to issuing showcause notices and the IPPs have been seeking more time in response. Principal secretary, power, Subhash Negi said deterrent action could not be taken against the defaulters, as the provision of monetary penalty and the procedure to be followed had not been elaborated. Further, the cancellation of MoU could be resorted to only in extreme situations.
More importantly, it would not serve the purpose of ensuring employment and only cause financial loss due to delay in execution of the projects.
|
||
|
IGMC being stalked by thieves
Shimla, August 5 What is most interesting is that the taps were stolen from a bathroom attached to special wards, which were occupied. The thief introduced himself as a plumber to the hospital staff and walked off after removing the expensive fittings. Similar fittings were stolen last week from the adjoining dental college. A case has been registered but what is most interesting is the fact that the aquaguard was stolen from outside the emergency, which has people moving round the clock and private security is deployed. |
||
|
Insurance firm told to pay relief
Shimla, August 5 The forum headed by Sureshwar Thakur passed this order on the complaint filed, wherein the complainant averred that he owned a truck (HP-63-0368), which was insured with the company for a period of one year commencing from July 20, 2005, to July 19, 2006. It was averred that the aforesaid vehicle met with an accident on December 8, 2005, and suffered extensive loss. The company dilly-dallied the claim on one pretext or the other. Thle company contested the complaint on the ground that since the driver of the vehicle was not having a valid and effective driving licence at the time of accident, the insurance company was well within its right to repudiate the claim of the complainant on account of breach of terms and conditions of the insurance policy. While allowing the complaint, the forum also imposed Rs 2,500 as litigation cost upon the company and observed that the mere fact that the driving licence of the driver did not contain an endorsement of his being authorised to drive a transport vehicle would not oust the claim of the complainant.
|
||
|
Three sweet shops raided
Mandi, August 5 The health team took five samples of the adulterated food items and sent them to the testing laboratory at
Kandaghat. The food-inspection team raided three shops- Arora Sweets Shop, Laharon Di Hati and
Manpasand- and took the samples. It found that sweet owners were not maintaining hygiene at their workshops. “The sanitation was poor. Workers have not undergone mandatory medical examination,” the team found. Food inspector Liladhar Thakur asserted that offenders would be booked after the report from the laboratory reaches the department. |
||
|
| 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 | |
Hamirpur, August 5
Dharamsala, August 5
