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Rohru Seat
Cong veterans flay rejection of dynastic politics
Cong deputes Jagmeet Brar to end Rohru worries
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‘Cong must not be elated at recent victory’
Green Cover
Body of missing Russian pilot found
Demand to probe paragliding mishaps
NOC Issue
HPU convocation on Nov 17
Zila Parishad chief removed
Taxi driver commits suicide
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Rohru Seat
Shimla, October 27 The treatment meted out to the state party president Kaul Singh, who was publicly humiliated by a section of Congress men over the denial of ticket to Pratibha Singh, had brought the factional war into the open and it would certainly have serious implications for the party during the by-election. The BJP was in a strong position and it would have won the seat even if Pratibha Singh were in the fray. However, her exit and the subsequent happenings in the Congress would ensure a landslide victory, he added. The BJP had, 10 years ago, wrested the Congress citadel of Jubbal and Kotkhai and it was now on the verge of achieving another major milestone by winning the Rohru seat. The party earlier this year won the Shimla Parliamentary seat for the first time and the emerging scenario provided a clear indication that the Congress stronghold was being rocked by tremors. Terming the decision of the Congress not to grant party ticket to relatives, he said dynastic rule must not be perpetuated in a democratic set up and merit should be the sole criterion for selecting candidates. However, the manner in which Virbhadra Singh had reacted and behaved did not behove a senior leader who remained the Chief Minister of the state five times. Moreover, lower-rung Congress leaders were worried about their future and were wondering if this could happen to Virbhadra Singh, their fate could be worse. BJP candidate Khusi Ram Balnatah had an edge because of the goodwill generated by policies and programmes of the Dhumal government. Moreover, Balnatah had been serving the people for the past over two decades and they wanted to pay him back by sending him to the Vidhan Sabha. With Virbhadra Singh in the arena, the people always voted for a Chief Minister and as a result, Balnatah lost out. The political scenario had changed in Rohru and the electoral history was set to change over the next fortnight, he added. |
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Cong veterans flay rejection of dynastic politics
Mandi, October 27 In an exclusive talk with The Tribune, they said the “logic behind ending dynastic politics” was never applied in Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana where offsprings and relatives of Congress leaders, many of them first-timers, were allotted ticket. Denial of ticket on this logic to Pratibha Singh was illogical as her name was cleared by the Rohru Block Congress Committee unanimously, they asserted. Pandit Gauri Prashad, a 89-year-old Congress man, who was of one the three ministers in the Dr YS Parmar ministry in 1952, said, “The Congress today is paradropping leaders and it is the reason why it is losing goodwill in the state and outside. Earlier, workers used to have their say and the high command used to obey that.” He said most of the leaders today had selfish motive. “As far as I have seen, Virbhadra Singh has strengthened the Congress in the state. He has a clean image and is a sincere worker. Ignoring him will weaken the party in the state,” he said. Recalling his association with country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru when he had visited Mandi and Chamba while he was the PWD minister, Gauri Prashad said, “We had an overdraft and Nehru questioned us. We told him that funds were spent on roads connecting district and tehsil headquarters. He quickly ordered that roads should be regularised and funds utilised should be assessed.” PCC member and Congress veteran from Rohru, Negi Ranvijay Singh, said the Rohru block passed a unanimous single line resolution in favour of Pratibha Singh, but it was ignored. “I protested but did not resign as I feel I am a Congress man first. But we will apprise the high command of the grassroots reality here as we are sentimentally attached with the Gandhi-Nehru family and Virbhadra Singh family in the state,” he explained. Expressing similar views, Ravi Rana, Congress veteran from Balh Mandi, said the party high command should consider the “ground reality” independently and obey the political will of party workers to judge the winning ability of each candidate. “However, in the case of Rohru, the party has lost the winning seat by denying ticket to Pratibha Singh. The logic of dynastic politics is a misnomer as even the BJP is not immune to it,” he asserted. |
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Cong deputes Jagmeet Brar to end Rohru worries
Chandigarh, October 27 Wiser by Haryana experience where internal bickering and rebel party candidates rocked the party boat, denying it a clear majority in the 12th Vidhan Sabha, the Congress has started fire fighting in time before the damage is done. It wants Brar, once a firebrand Punjab Congress leader and now a working committee member, to camp in Himachal Pradesh and broke peace among all warring factions of the party there. Three top leaders of the Himachal Congress, including Union Cabinet Minister Virbhadra Singh, state Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur and former Speaker of Himachal Pradesh Vidya Stokes, are caught in a conflict of interests as the by-election to Rohru, considered a Congress stronghold, draws near. Interestingly, Virbhadra Singh wanted his wife Pratibha Singh to contest
from Rohru. Jagmeet Singh Brar, who was called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, has been given a brief to bring all senior leaders together and make them campaign together for the party candidate. He has a rich experience of working as a party observer and peacemaker, both before and during elections, in different states. He has been asked to oversee Congress campaign in Rohru as an observer and apprise the party high command of the developments. Brar, who is also in the run for the presidentship of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, has been handpicked for this crucial assignment and asked to report back to the party high command on the developments in Rohru on a daily basis. Rohru has become a prestigious seat for the Congress now as the ruling BJP is exploiting Congress infighting to the brim which may make a dent in the party citadel. He is expected to reach Shimla tomorrow and organise a meeting of all senior leaders of the party there. Besides briefing the Congress president, Brar has been asked to give a detailed report about the conduct and action of all Congress leaders of the state so that corrective measures can be taken in time. |
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‘Cong must not be elated at recent victory’
Hamirpur, October 27 This was stated by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal while interacting with mediapersons at Jamli today. He said, “The BJP has increased its vote percentage in these states and so called victory of the Congress in Haryana is just misconstrued since majority of the voters had voted for the opposition candidates and the government in Haryana has a bleak future.” Commenting on the statement of HPCC president Kaul Singh Thakur accusing BJP workers of creating ruckus at a Congress meeting at Sungari on Monday, Dhumal said the incident was nothing but a result of internal bickering of
the Congress. If there is an iota of truth in the allegation, he would take action against the workers. He said, “I do not want to comment on the statements of
Virbhadra Singh since he has become frustrated after denial of party ticket to his wife Pratibha Singh for the Rohru election. However, he has definitely made a few irresponsible statements in the recent past.” Dhumal also accused the central government of allegedly discriminating against the state and said, “It has reduced the quota of rice from 1,700 metric tonnes to 600 metric tonnes and supply of PDS ration has also been reduced.” |
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Green Cover
Shimla, October 27 The initiative for the conclave has been taken by Himachal Pradesh which has been seeking compensation for the forest revenue it has been losing due to imposition of complete ban on green felling to help protect the Himalayan environment. In fact, the state has sought an environment protection grant of Rs 10,523 crore for preserving the green cover from the 13th Finance Commission. The forest wealth of the state was worth over Rs 1,50,000 crore and by not exploiting it the state was denying itself the much-needed revenue. Chief Minister PK Dhumal had been pleading for cooperation among the Himalayan states and forming a common front for taking up various developmental issues and problems with the Centre effectively. The Himalayan states right from Jammu and Kashmir to the north-east had similar topography, agro-climatic conditions and problems but being small entities they individually did not have the political clout to get contentious issues settled. It had been suggested that the Himalayan states be compensated through “payment for environmental services” as they were preserving the forest cover to protect the environment in the larger national interest. The planning commission had found merit in the plea and the need to provide incentive to these states for maintaining the green cover. The conclave, thus, assumes importance as the presence of Union Minister for Forests and Environment Jairam Ramesh will facilitate framing of a policy in this regard and also enable to know the viewpoint of the Centre on
the issue. Additional Chief Secretary, science, technology and environment, Sarojini Thakur said only Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim, the states with glaciers, had been invited for the conclave. The first day and first-half of the second day would be devoted to discussions involving environment experts, researchers, officers, representatives of non-government organisations and various stakeholders. After ascertaining the views of all concerned and taking into consideration the advice of technical experts, recommendation would be finalised. The Chief Ministers would discuss the recommendations to give shape to the joint strategy of the states to mitigate the socioeconomic impact and cope with climate change and sustain livelihoods of the people. Climate change would have significant negative impact on natural resources, soil quality and of course environment for which new strategies would have to be devised. |
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Body of missing Russian pilot found
Dharamsala, October 27 Interestingly, though the organisers of the event had informed the police yesterday regarding Alexey Ashurov, the missing Russian pilot, they had concealed information regarding the above two pilots who were located by the search parties today. Kangra SP Atul Fulzele, when contacted, said the search party located the body of Elliyayudin at about 5.30 pm. The other injured pilot was also located in the same area. He had injured his leg and had been transferred to the Nagrota Bagwan civil hospital. The SP also admitted that before locating the said pilots, they had no information regarding the fact that other pilots were also missing. He said there was no trace of missing Russian pilot Alexey Ashurov. Sources available here said the search party found injured pilot Tenis Soyawa sleeping near the Himani Chamunda temple area at an altitude of about 12,000 feet. Regarding missing Alexey, the sources are suspecting that he may either have crossed over to Chamba district across the Dhauladhars or might have got trapped in snow-clad mountains. These pilots had come to Bir-Biling area of Kangra district to participate in the paragliding championship that was being organised by a local society. However, the event has been marred with accidents. Besides the said three pilots, another pilot had sustained leg injury a few days ago. The numerous accidents that marred the event illustrate the lack of security measures being taken by the organisers. It also raises doubts regarding the abilities of the participants to take part in the event. According to rules, only trained pilots can take part in paragliding events. Though the government has cancelled the championship, no action has been taken against the organisers for risking lives of the participants. |
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Demand to probe paragliding mishaps
Shimla, October 27 The association maintained that some persons, who were more interested in commercial activities rather than sports, were completely overlooking the safety aspects, the main cause of fatal accidents. Not only that, these organisations were not reporting accidents to the national aero-sports control office for proper investigation which was mandatory. As a result, accidents were taking place repeatedly, leading to loss of lives. According to the FAI rules and regulations, for any aero sport, the safety aspect of all events is to be looked into by the organisers and all rescue and retrieval operations were also their responsibility and not that of the state government. The rules and regulations had been notified by the state but these were not being adhered to by organisers who charged hefty fee from foreigners for participation in such events, which were, at times, held without any safety arrangements in place. The association demanded stringent action against those violating the rules and unnecessarily putting the lives of sportspersons to risk. It also welcomed the timely action of the Tourism Department to stop the paragliding event which was not conforming to the rules and regulations. The association would approach the Aero Club of India in the matter so that safety aspect was not ignored in organising adventure sports events in the state. The mandatory accident-reporting procedure had never been followed in the state which resulted in non-investigation of occurrences. Rather accidents were concealed to escape responsibility.
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8 Nobel laureates support Tibetan autonomy
Dharamsala, October 27 Eight Nobel Peace laureates, including Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Adolfo Perez Equivel, Betty Williams and Wangari Maathai, were the signatories of the statement issued here today for supporting the cause. Three of the eight signatories, including Mairead Maguire, Jody Williams and Shirin Ebadi, handed over the letter to the Dalai Lama at Dharamsala today during a public ceremony hosted by them
in his honour. The statement said for the past 50 years, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people had waged a peaceful struggle to preserve their ancient culture, religion, language, and identity. “As the issue of Tibet remains tragically unresolved and Tibetans continued to endure harsh and repressive conditions in Tibet, we, as Nobel Peace laureates, wish to express our grave concern about the survival of Tibetan identity and offer our support to the Dalai Lama for his non-violent efforts to attain meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people,” they said. The distinct culture of Tibet embodies universal values of compassion and tolerance. “These qualities have much to offer the world as we seek to build a more peaceful, just, and sustainable global community in the 21st century,” they added. While the Tibetan people continue to face a dark and painful chapter in their history, they have succeeded in preserving their cultural traditions in exile and have contributed their knowledge to many fields of human endeavour. As the world has benefited from the Dalai Lama’s wisdom and moral authority, it is fitting that we honour him, and that we stand behind him to keep the issue of Tibet alive, they added. “We urge the Chinese government to take immediate and constructive steps to resolve the status of Tibet and end the oppressive policies that continue to marginalise and impoverish Tibetans in their own land,” they said. |
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NOC Issue
Shimla, October 27 While issuing notices to all respondents, the division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ram Bhuwan Mishra and Justice Rajeev Sharma directed the respondents to file reply within four weeks. Petitioners Bihari Lal and Nirdesh Kumar had filed the petition alleging that the land in question comprising khsra No 389/400 (at present) in Mahal Kand Mauza Ghaniara, Dharamsala tehsil, Kangra district, was under the gram panchayat and recorded as chargah billa darkhtan kabja bartan daran. The petitioners mentioned that the land had vested in the state government under the Village Common Vesting Land Act. They further added that as per the orders of this court this land cannot be used for any other purpose than agricultural or development activities pertaining to agriculture. The petitioners mentioned that the Uprali Dari Gram Panchayat issued the NOC to the HPCA in an illegal manner to construct a motel on the land in question. They also mentioned that the respondent association was processing its case before the state government to transfer this land in the name of the association. |
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Military school to celebrate 84th annual day
Solan, October 27 Reminiscent of the erstwhile British Raj, the school is housed in tastefully done buildings presenting a legacy of the yore. It also prides in having the world’s highest stadium where test matches played between the erstwhile royals and Britishers have been recorded in history. Surrounded by the gigantic deodar and well-maintained ground its cricket pitch, at a commanding height of 2,144m, is also used as a polo ground. Successive governments have been announcing efforts to maintain this
highest cricket stadium and efforts were also foot to use this place for acclimatising cricketers. The school has many distinguished alumni, which include Lt-Gen RS Dyal (retd), PVSM, MVC, ADC; Lt-Gen VK Sharma, VSM; Major-Gen VK Sharma, SM; and Lt-Gen TK Sapru, PVSM, YSM, ADC GOC-in-C Western Command, will grace the occasion this year. With preparations round the corner for various cultural events to grace the annual day it will soon complete another illustrious year of its rich history, confided its principal Lt Col VK Bhat. |
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HPU convocation on Nov 17
Shimla, October 27 Gold medals will be awarded to postgraduate and undergraduate candidates of the year 2007 and 2008. In all, 411 candidates will be conferred degrees and one D.Lit, 183 PhD and 227 gold medals will be awarded. The D.Lit. under the faculty of Social Sciences pertains
to the year 2007, while in case of PhD, 89 candidates qualified in the year 2007 and 94 in 2008. |
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Zila Parishad chief removed
Shimla, October 27 The strength of 24 member-House was reduced to 23 following the death of a member and as such support of only 12 members was required. Chandra Prabha, her deputy Satya Dev Sharma and other supporters abstained from the meeting in the hope that lack of quorum may bail them. However, three Congress-supported members turned up for the meeting to seal their fate. Deputy commissioner J.S.Rana has fixed the next meeting for electing a new chairperson on November 3. However, elections will be held only if two-third of the members are present. The Congress-supported members are in a majority and they could still work out a strategy to get a person of their choice elected to the post. However, there is no hope for the ousted Chandra Prabha. |
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Taxi driver commits suicide
Kangra, October 27 Kangra Sub-Divisional Police Officer Jeet Singh Thakur said Sanjeev Kumar Choudary, a resident of Rajol village and a taxi driver by profession, committed suicide last night by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his residence under the influence liquor and was rushed to Dr RP Government Medical College at Tanda where he was declared brought dead. He said this was the third attempt by Sanjeev to commit suicide. However, twice he was saved by immediate medical intervention. He said after a post-mortem examination his body was handed over to his relatives and investigation into the matter was on. |
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