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FIR against Congress MLA
Race for top police post begins
Cabinet approves change in purchase process
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Himachal Day function at Rohru
Congress rejects clean chit to BJP MP
‘Step up
bus stand’s construction’
Villagers fail to get work under MNREGA
Govt mulls outsourcing tunnel projects
IG proceeds on leave
Mahavir’s idol sent to ASI for verification
Adventure trip organised
Minor raped
Mid-day meal workers stage dharna
BJP Foundation Day
Furniture shop gutted
IPL Funds
Teachers allege disparity in pay scales
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Pandemonium prevails in House
Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service
Shimla, April 6 The issue was raised as soon as the House assembled for the day by leader of Opposition Vidya Stokes who urged the Chair to take up the adjournment motion for which notices have been given by Sudhir Sharma, Mukesh Agnihotri and Harsh Wardhan. She said registration of an FIR against the elected representative at the instance of an officer was a serious matter warranting immediate attention of the House. It not only involved the dignity, privilege and rights of the members of the House but the discharge of duties towards the people they represented. Tulsi Ram said he had so far not examined the matter as he received the notices only after reaching office this morning before the start of the session. At this PCC chief Kaul Singh stood up and alleged that an FIR had been registered only after Manglait gave a privilege notice against the SDM who was found invariably missing when his presence was required, be it communal riots or fatal accidents. It was shocking that an elected representative was booked on the basis of a telephonic conversation. If Manglait was arrested on the basis of the FIR, all Congress the MLAs would court arrest and the fight would continue till the FIR was withdrawn. Intervening at this juncture Chief Minister P.K.Dhumal said the government would not succumb to such threats to withdraw the FIR and the case would be dealt on merit after conducting an inquiry. Action would be taken whosoever was found guilty. The SDM had lodged a complaint with the deputy commissioner as early as March 6 and the FIR was not a result of the privilege notice. Asserting it was not for the first time that such an action had been taken, he recalled that BJP member H.N.Singh was booked when the electronic gate at the entrance of the Vidhan Sabha was damaged during the Congress rule. Enraged by assertions of Dhumal that the FIR would not be withdrawn, all Congress members rushed towards the well and raised slogans against the government. However, the Speaker proceeded with the question hour amidst the constant din created by slogans and adjourned the House only after finishing the business listed for the day.
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Race for top police post begins
Shimla, April 6 Gill, who had taken over as the DGP on August 20 on his return from a BSF posting last year, is due to retire in June but it is learnt that he is keen to proceed on leave till retirement. Though appointment of a regular DGP will not be possible till his retirement, acting DGP will have to be appointed by the government. The appointment is likely to be made by the government anytime after the assembly is over as Gill, a 1974 batch officer, is likely to proceed on leave only after the session and the IPL matches. Name of DGP (Vigilance) DS Manhas is already doing the rounds as the frontrunner for the post, even though his name figures at number five in the seniority. Controversial police officer BS Thind, who retired last month was the senior most officer after Gill and belonged to the same 1974 batch. The officer who is now senior most in the services is Ajit Lal, special director in the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Second in seniority is Sohan Singh, DGP (Prisons), who is also from the 1974 batch. The third senior most IPS officer in the state is RN Gupta who is also on central deputation as CMS and Anti-RO. He is from the 1976 batch while the next officer in line is Anirudh Uppal, who is serving with the National Security Guard (NSG). Deepak Baghai, a 1975 police officer, too retired last month. Gill had been appointed as the DGP after Ashwini Kumar was assigned the post of director of the CBI. There had been talks of Gill wanting to proceed on a long leave for the past sometime but now he himself confirmed this. Manhas, who as DGP (Vigilance) launched a campaign against corruption as in sharp contrast to the past practice of the vigilance bureau only laying its hands on middle and junior rank officials, ensured that nobody was spared be it an IAS officer, chief engineers or excise department officers. Despite Manhas being on number five, it remains to be seen who will be chosen for the top post as the government can go by seniority, the way it happened when Gill was made the DGP. |
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Cabinet approves change in purchase process
Shimla, April 6 The decision was taken by the Cabinet which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal. The decision has been taken to bring in transparency and to avoid any irregularities as was the case during the Congress tenure. About a dozen cases have already been registered by the Vigilance Bureau in connection with the alleged irregularities in supply of bitumen. In the past the PWD would get the supply through government agencies like the Agro Industries Corporation and the Civil Supplies Corporation. In the earlier practice problem was being faced by the PWD as its requirement of bitumen was not met fully as supply fell short. It is expected that the open bidding would not help tide over all problems faced in the past. The Cabinet also granted approval for creation of a PWD circle at Jogindernagar in Mandi district. However, it has been decided not to create any new posts as staff requirement would be met departmentally from the available staff. The Cabinet also granted approval for creation of some posts and upgradation of scales of staff in the Vidhan
Sabha. |
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Himachal Day function at Rohru
Shimla, April 6 Assembly Speaker Tulsi Ram will preside over the function at Mandi, PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur at Kullu, Education Minister ID Dhiman at Solan, Forest Minister JP Nadda at Sirmour, IPH Minister Ravinder Ravi at Himachal Bhawan, Delhi, Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor at Chamba, Food and Supplies Minister Ramesh Dhawala at Reckong Peo, Health Minister Rajeev Bindal at Bilaspur, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Chaudhary at Hamirpur, Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Thakur at Una, Transport Minister Mohinder Singh at Kangra and Deputy Speaker Rikhi Ram Kaundal at Lahaul-Spiti.
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Congress rejects clean chit to BJP MP
Shimla, April 6 Party general secretary Kuldeep Rathore told mediapersons here today that the findings of the inquiry did not match the contents of the
CD, making obvious that the inquiry was a farce. Kashyap had not only promised to help the private party in obtaining permission for acquiring land under Section 118 of the Land Reform and Tenancy Act but also accepted money, which was clearly captured by the camera. Not only that, he had even inquired “poorey hain” to ascertain if full amount
was being paid and also got a newspaper from the reception counter of the hotel to wrap
the currency. The report on the other hand said the currency was found lying on the table, which were not accepted by Kashyap and deposited with the police. There was no mention of Tirath Ram, a close associate of Kashyap, who had claimed that it was
his money. The outcome of the inquiry was a foregone conclusion as the government was bent
upon shielding Kashyap and it was for this reason that the Congress had demanded a CBI probe, he said reiterating the party’s demand. Rathore also lambasted Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor for alleging that the Congress was opposing release of government funds for the development of Dharamsala, and said he stood by his statement that the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) was as commercial body and it should be charged for the expenditure made on making arrangements. If Kapoor was so concerned about Dharamsala why did he not oppose the shifting of central university to Dehra, the constituency of Anurag Thakur, the MP son of Chief Minister PK Dhumal and president of the HPCA. He urged Kapoor to clarify his stand on the issue. The Congress leader said there was no comparison between Commonwealth Games being held in Delhi and the IPL matches. He said the BJP leaders would not be able to mislead the people by drawing parallels to justify government spending. It was shocking that the government funds was being given to a commercial body like HPCA for construction of a five-star hotel and cricket academies. |
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‘Step up
bus stand’s construction’
Shimla, April 6 This order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice RB Misra on a PIL filed in this regard. The bench further directed the Solan Deputy Commissioner, Solan SP and the Municipal Committee to see that vehicles were provided with appropriate parking place within the municipal limit and that they were parked only at places provided for parking. |
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Villagers fail to get work under MNREGA
Solan, April 6 Inquires revealed that villagers, including Hemraj, Rajkumar, Chinta Mani, Daulat Ram, Dujja Ram, Tulsi Ram, Tonu Ram, Khranja Ram, etc, had got registration cards made in February-March to procure jobs under the MNREGA along with hundreds of other villagers of Beral and Mangal but the government had failed to provide them any work. This had disappointed the villagers who had little avenues of earning livelihood as both panchayats were among the most backward areas of the district and were inhabited mostly by people of the Dalit community. In one of the remote village, including Nanihas, where about 25-30 Dalit families resided, the common paths of the village had been severally damaged and traditional water bodies had become defunct in the absence of proper upkeep and repair. The villagers said though the panchayat was requested to get these works done, nothing had been done so far and this was worsening the plight of the residents. This proved the lackadaisical attitude of the panchayat representatives who had failed to get any work executed in the area despite dire need. The villagers rued that they were compelled to bear hardships as no one came forward to execute any developmental work. PCC secretary Sanjay Awasthi, who had taken up the issue with the BDO, was given a nonchalant response that since the incumbent had joined barely a fortnight ago he would look into the matter. The official had, however, failed to turn up even after a week to take stock of the situation. Awasthi alleged that the government should suitably compensate the applicants as the government had failed to provide them employment and hence unemployment allowance should be given to them for the last financial year as per the mandate of the Act. He lamented that the poor implementation of central schemes at the grass-roots level showed the mala fide intention of the government who had failed to ensure uplift of the poor. Though the panchayat lacked a technical assistant who could prepare the nitty-gritty of schemes under which work could be provided, no issue failed to be addressed in time. |
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Govt mulls outsourcing tunnel projects
Shimla, April 6 He said it had been decided to construct Dhaneta-Bangana, Holi-Uttrala and Bhubhujot-Kullu tunnels to shorten distances by several kilometres and keep the movement of vehicular traffic open throughout the year. Dhumal said it would be more appropriate to engage the services of expert in vehicular tunnel-boring projects so that execution of the project was done in minimum possible time. He directed the authorities to complete codal formalities for outsourcing the preparation of detailed project report and also explore possibilities of constructing the same under BOOT provisions to save time and money. The Chief Minister said the detailed project report for construction of tunnel below Swarghat in Bilaspur district had already been prepared and it now awaited execution. He advised authorities to get in touch with the Union Ministry of Surface Transport to explore possibilities of taking over the execution of the project since it was most viable and necessary so as to reduce traffic congestion on the Swarghat-Bilaspur road. He added the tunnel would help in transporting cement. He stated that three tunnels had also been proposed in Shimla town to decongest traffic on the circular road. He said the detailed project reports for the same were already in hand and execution work had to be started on priority so that Shimla town was also eased of frequent traffic jams and congestion. He also stressed the need to have provision for rainwater harvesting structures in all government buildings and private house owners while constructing new buildings. |
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IG proceeds on leave
Shimla, April 6 Police spokesperson Vinod Kumar Dhawan (AIG) confirmed that the IG had decided to proceed on leave till the inquiry in this regard was complete. The government has handed over the inquiry into the suicide by 29-year-old Ritu to the CID. The police registered a case under Sections 306 and 201 of the IPC against the IG, his wife and son Siddharth, who is a judicial officer. It was on March 28 that Ritu had committed suicide in her house. |
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Mahavir’s idol sent to ASI for verification
Dharamsala, April 6 Due to high value of the idol as being quoted by the arrested accused in the case, the police thought it was pertinent to get it verified from the ASI experts. From initial examination, the experts had estimated that the idol was of 16 to 17th century AD. The police was also on a look out for the third accused in the case, a resident of Nagrota. Investigating officials were also trying to verify if the accused in the case had any linkage with the murder of a ‘sadhu’ in the Palampur area. The police sources here said the sadhu was allegedly in possession of the antique mask. He was probably killed for that mask that had a high value in the international market. The two alleged smugglers, Atul Gupta and Rajeev Gupta, were carrying the antique idol in Mohindra Balero when the police on a tip-off caught them on the intervening might of March 22/23. The accused belonged to Bandla village, near Palampur, and were running cattle feed factory in the Nagrota Bagwan area. Meanwhile, the effort of police to get a witness raised a controversy. The police officials last evening took the watchman of the education board to dispose as witness in the case. However, the education board employees’ reacted sharply to the police move. The employee union of the board alleged that policemen in plain clothes picked up their watchman at 9 pm yesterday. The watchman was carried to the police station and made to sign on plain papers. He was released after three hours, they alleged. The association had condemned the attitude of the police and threatened to move before the human rights commission against the treatment met to the watchman. The SP, however, maintained that the watchman of the board had witnessed the police official arresting the accused and recovering idol from the vehicle. Since he was a witness in the case and a government employee we just requested him to dispose as witness. I am surprised that the employee union of education board has given a totally different colour to the story, he said. |
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Adventure trip organised
Nurpur, April 6 Youths were exhorted to join the Army. A child nutrition camp was also organised by child specialist Lt Col PM Reddy. The members of the expedition also planted 100 saplings on the premises of the sports
centre. |
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Minor raped
Mandi, April 6 Narrating the sordid tale, the grandfather said Rana entered their house at around 5 pm yesterday and committed the heinous crime. He stated in the FRI that the incident took place when the girl was alone in the house. Meanwhile, Mandi SP said the accused had been arrested and investigation was on in the case. |
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Mid-day meal workers stage dharna
Shimla, April 6 The protesters demanded that there should be no retrenchment of workers in schools with low strength students and all workers should be paid the minimum wages and provided other benefits like casual leave, maternity leave, medical leave and school vacations, like other staff. President of the union Bhikam Ram also demanded framing service conditions for the workers, as at present there were no rules to govern the category of mid-day workers. |
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BJP Foundation Day
Hamirpur, April 6 Addressing a meeting, BJP state vice-president Kirpal Pramar said, “Party workers are the backbone of the party and should be given due honour.” It was party activists who took the government’s polices to the people and leaders should understand that no achievement of the government could percolate to the masses without active campaign by the workers, he added. MP Anurag Thakur, in his address, stressed the importance of maintaining strict punctuality and said whenever party leaders failed to reach on time for any programme, party activists became demoralised. Hence they should make it a point to reach earlier than the scheduled time. Thakur also talked about the policies of the state government and said it had already fulfilled majority of election promises made in the party manifesto during the last elections. While the state government had made efforts to create employment opportunities for the youths, many projects were being implemented for self-employment, he added. State vice-president of the BJP Maya Rana, district party president Desh Raj Sharma, chairman of the Kangra State Cooperative Bank Raseel Singh Mankotia and Marketing Board president Pyare Lal Sharma among others also addressed the meeting. Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the function, Pramar accused the Congress-led central government of allegedly discriminating against the state government. Talking to mediapersons, he said, “Congress-led central government has always discriminated against Himachal and the state has been denied several prestigious projects because of the same.” He said denial of industrial package extension to the state, which was granted by Vajpayee-led NDA government, was another example of Congress’ discrimination. Pramar said about 10,000 party workers from the state would participate in the BJP rally being organised in New Delhi on April 21.
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Furniture shop gutted
Nurpur, April 6 The local administration immediately requisitioned fire tenders from Pathankot and Dharamsala which succeeded in extinguishing fire after fighting for over three hours. Earlier, residents of the area noticed the smoke emanating from the shop and informed Mehar Chand, owner of the shop, local police and administration. A loss of Rs 20 lakh has been estimated in the fire mishap. The local MLA, who also visited the spot this morning, said the government had proposed as many as 10 new fire fighting stations in the state which included Nurpur, too.
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IPL Funds
Mandi, April 6 Addressing the press conference here after the district meeting on the occasion of the BJP foundation day today, they charged that the Congress government was also spending Rs 10,000 crore on development of sports infrastructure in New Delhi for Commonwealth Games. In the same manner Chief Minister has given Rs 3 crore for development of infrastructure in Dharamsala for the IPL matches, they said. The leaders claimed that the HP Cricket Association under Anurag Thakur had also spent Rs 15 crore on development of cricket stadium in Dharamsala, but the Congress had overlooked Thakur’s contribution to the state. Talking about the BJP price rise really to be held in New Delhi on April 21, they said over 15,000 BJP workers would participate in the rally.
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Teachers allege disparity in pay scales
Dharamsala, April 6 They alleged that PATs had been given an enhancement from Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,500 and Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 for BEd and non-BEd categories. However, other categories of teachers like gramin vidya upasaks (GVU) and para teachers, who were recruited in 2003, had been given basic and grade pay according to the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. This had created gross disparity in salaries of teacher categories with similar status, they added. Sources available here told The Tribune that various special categories of teachers like PAT, PTA and GVU were created by successive governments in the state for back-door entries in the teaching department. Ideally, the government should have recruited the teachers through Staff Selection Board of the state. The teachers alleged that there were many schools in the state that were being run solely by them and have threatened agitation to press for their demands.
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Pandemonium prevailed in the Vidhan Sabha today as members of the opposition Congress entered the well of the House and tried to disrupt proceedings.
Shimla, April 6
