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Delhi HC grants bail to Sukh Ram
Dhumal hits out at Cong
CM’s rally led to traffic chaos: Cong
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Congress demands CM’s resignation
Poll observer acting under Cong pressure: BJP
Development key issue in Nalagarh
Voting from 8 am to 5 pm
6 ITBP companies for byelections
Kaul Singh wants 2 ministers sacked
State seeks Rs 991 cr from Centre
CPM to support traders’ Dec 1 bandh call
Seminar on choice-based system for evaluation
HPU, Russian varsity ink pact
Karcham project helps contain Nathpa silt level
100 old students attend dental college alumni meet
2.3 kg charas seized
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Delhi HC grants bail to Sukh Ram
A Bench of Justice Suresh Kait passed the order citing Sukh Ram’s advanced age of 86 and the medical report received from the Tihar Jail authorities that showed he was suffering from a heart ailment and degeneration of neck bones. Ordering his release after securing two sureties of Rs 10 lakh each and a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh, the HC directed him not to leave the country without taking permission from the court. His passport would continue to remain in the possession of the CBI, the court clarified. The HC provided relief to him even as the CBI opposed his bail plea on the grounds that he was a habitual offender and had been convicted twice earlier. Arguing for Sukh Ram, senior counsel Arivind Nigam and Anil Nag contended that the HC had already granted bail to their client in two other cases - one relating to another contract and the other to accumulation of wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income - in which he had been sentenced to three years each. The counsel also argued that Sukh Ram had never tried to evade the judicial process in any of the cases. In fact, it was on his plea that the trial in the present case was expedited, they contended. They also pleaded that the convict had to be under constant medical supervision as he was suffering from several health problems, including coronary ailment, diabetes and fluctuating blood pressure. Sentencing him to five years on November 19 last, CBI court Judge RP Pandey had also slapped a fine of Rs 4 lakh on the 86-year-old who was the minister when PV Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister during 1991-96. A day earlier, the court had convicted him under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) for misusing his official position to favour a company, Haryana Telecom Limited (HTL), in the award of a contract for supplying cables to the Telecom Department. When Sukh Ram was brought out of the trial court to be taken to the Tihar Jail on November 19, Harvinder Singh slapped and kicked him. However, he was not hurt in the incident. Telecom Scam
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Dhumal hits out at Cong
Sangarah/Nalagarh, November 28 Dhumal asked the people of Nalagarh to give the Congress a befitting reply in the November 30 byelection as it had humiliated former MLA HN Saini during its regime at a rally at Baba Barfani
Chowk. He said false cases had been registered against him for having broken a gate and the party which could not respect an elected representative of thousands of people should be rejected in the poll. He said the “anti-people” policies of the Congress had affected the common man, who had been forced to bear the brunt of the price rise and corruption. Illustrating his point, he said the manner in which the Congress-led UPA government had hiked the petrol prices by Rs 5 soon after the declaration of results of five state assemblies in May this year proved the difference in what they professed and
practised. He said the people could see for themselves that the Renuka MLA had not paid any attention to development which had left the Renuka area backward although they were undertaking uniform development of the entire state. Others present on the occasion included Shyam
Jaju, national general secretary, BJP, Rajeev Bindal, Health Minister, Mahender Singh
Thakur, Transport Minister, and Khimi Ram, State BJP president. |
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CM’s rally led to traffic chaos: Cong
Solan, November 28 BCC president Tapinder Singh said due to a large number of vehicles parked on the road, the common man faced problems in using the road from 11 am to 2.30 pm today. He said this had disrupted the smooth flow of traffic and they would lodge a complaint with the Election Commissioner in this regard. Meanwhile, a protest march was taken out at Nohradhar today, which was led by Congress MLA Sohan Lal. The Congress demanded action against CPS Sukh Ram in whose vehicle large quantity of liquor was seized by the police. |
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Seizure of Liquor
Hamirpur, November 28 District Congress president Sunil Sharma, while addressing mediapersons here today, said, “Politics has become a business for BJP leaders in the state and they are misusing money and liquor in the byelections to subvert public opinion.” He said, “BJP leaders are trying to buy votes and are using all illegal means to win the elections.” Sharma said, “Himachal voters have always expressed their opinion freely in the elections and they are going to reject the efforts of some leaders to buy their votes this
time too.” In a separate press conference, district president of the Congress Sewa Dal Jagjit Thakur said, “The misuse of money and liquor in the byelections has exposed the real face of the BJP and the state government, and there was a clear attempt to buy votes, which is highly deplorable.” He said, “This has also exposed the hollow claims of the BJP of having carried out large-scale development in the state. If it had done some good work during the past four years, there would not have been any need for it to buy votes through money and liquor and voters would have given it an overwhelming support in these elections.” Thakur has demanded the resignation of Dhumal on moral grounds and legal action against the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, besides action against erring district officials. |
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Poll observer acting under Cong pressure: BJP
Addressing a press conference here today, BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt said the Congress wanted to win the two byelections in Renuka and Nalagrah using unfair and deceitful means. “The state BJP today sent a compliant to the Election Commission of India to recall the election observer for Renuka as he was acting under the pressure of Congress leaders,” he said. The BJP leader said it was probably for the first time that an election observer had raided the party office and ordered the arrest of the party in charge. “There is no proof that the money was meant for distribution among the voters as it was being sent for party workers and we have the entire record with us,” he said. He said the Congress was resorting to “goondaism” as it had the support of the election observer. Seeing that its candidate was sure to lose the election, the Congress was resorting to these kinds of cheap
tactics, which the people of Renuka were sure to reject, he added. Concerning the incident where liquor had been seized from the vehicle of Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Sukh Ram, he said the bottles had been kept there by Congress workers. “The Congress workers had been trailing the CPS and had threatened that they would get him framed in a false case,” he claimed. Dutt said it was the Congress culture to woo the electorate with the use of money, manpower and liquor power. “The electorate is well aware of these tactics of the Congress and despite its cheap tactics the BJP will win both the seats,” he said. |
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Development key issue in Nalagarh
Nalagarh, November 28 While the BJP has the advantage of having won this seat three times in a succession and its candidate Gurnam Kaur is riding the sympathy wave following the demise of her husband, having an inherent advantage, Congress’ Lakhwinder Rana is an old warhorse who is well-entrenched among the masses. Rural and urban voters have a significant role to play with Nalagarh town being traditionally considered the stronghold of the Congress though its precincts of Manjholi and Dhabota have a leaning towards the BJP. Similarly, the far-flung Pargana Malaun comprising five panchayats has been the pocket borough of the BJP as former MLA HN Saini had been getting an overwhelming support from this area. The decisive votes will, however be polled from the Changer area, comprising about 45 panchayats. It is dominated by the Rajputs though being an area lying in the vicinity of Punjab it has sizeable Sikh voters who had a natural leaning towards the Saini family. Being the home turf of Rana, he expects to make the maximum gain from Changer though the exemplary developmental works executed by HN Saini, including tube wells, a Bailey bridge, Hari Jhula and schools, by contributing from his own pocket would prove favourable for the BJP. Harping on the alleged indifference of the ruling BJP towards Nalagarh, Lakhwinder Rana said the poor condition of roads and bridges and lack of educational institutions in the Ramshehar area with neither a college nor a polytechnic and the problem of unemployment had disillusioned the masses. He added that his better educational status would enable him to effectively plead developmental issues before the government vis-à-vis Gurnam Kaur who, he says, is a novice. Gurnam Kaur, however, says, “The all-round development carried out by my husband has revolutionised the Changer area.” |
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Voting from 8 am to 5 pm
Solan, November 28 He said voting would be held from 8 am to 5 pm. A control room had been set up in the office of the CEO with the telephone number 0177-2622721 and the toll-free number of the centre was 1950. The counting would be held on December 4. The campaigning ended today at 5 pm. Political functionaries, party workers and campaign functionaries who have been brought from outside the constituency and who were not voters of the constituency, should not remain present in the constituency, he added. He said the Election Commission of India had directed that all district election and police officers should ensure that political functionaries who had been provided security by the state should not be allowed to remain present in the constituencies in which they were not electors after the period of campaigning was over. These instructions would, however, not be applicable to the candidates. He said 48 hours before the close of polling and the counting day had been declared as “dry days” in the Nalagarh and Renuka Assembly constituencies and in an area of 5 km adjoining these areas to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections. |
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6 ITBP companies for byelections
Shimla, November 28 CEO Narinder Chauhan said here today that the central security forces had been provided on the request of Election Commission of India. He said of these six companies five would be de-inducted after the completion of the poll on November 30, while one company would be de-inducted on December 4 after the counting of votes was over. Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary has, in a reply to the EC, stated that Bhagat Ram, who was arrested in connection with the recovery of cash at Sangrah, was a peon engaged on a co-terminus basis. He resigned from his job on November 17 which was accepted on November 24. |
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Kaul Singh wants 2 ministers sacked
Shimla, November 28 He said the people of Sirmaur had taken the attempts of BJP leaders to purchase their votes as an affront and an assault on their self-respect and they would make them pay for the misdemeanour. The BJP had taken the electoral politics in the hill state to the nadir and the charge of the Congress that it was the most corrupt government in the history of the state had come true, he said in a statement. He said the people of Renuka knew that the BJP could go to any extent to win the poll. However, the Himachalis still believed in upholding the traditional values and morals and they were not going to be lured by such cheap tactics of the ruling party. Such things had never happened in the state before and the BJP had brought in the political culture of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to the peaceful hill state. The PCC chief said the two episodes had thrown up corruption as the main issue along with discrimination in development and the image of the party had taken a beating not only in Renuka but even in Nalagarh. |
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Damage Due to Monsoon
Shimla, November 28 The state raised the demand during a meeting between the Central team headed by Bhagwan Shankar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu here last evening. The team visited various flood-affected areas in Kangra, Kullu and Solan districts to assess the damage. Bhagwan Shankar said the state had incurred heavy damage due to rain and he would apprise the Centre about the same so that required financial assistance could be provided to compensate the losses. It was also stated in the meeting that the total loss amounted to Rs 1,331 crore against which the state had demanded Rs 991 crore from the Centre. The maximum amount of Rs 484.48 crore had been sought for maintenance and restoration works of the PWD, followed by Rs 270.47 crore for restoration works in various districts, Rs 97.94 crore for the IPH, Rs 7.28 crore for the Animal Husbandry Department, Rs 38.27 crore for urban development, Rs 66.11 crore for horticulture, Rs 8.47 crore for the agriculture sector and Rs 8.34 crore for the state electricity board. |
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‘Better student-teacher ties need of the hour’
Kangra, November 28 Stating this at the silver jubilee function of the GAV Public School here yesterday, RJ Khanderao, Regional Officer, CBSE, Panchkula Region, said a good teacher taught students and continued to learn simultaneously, because education and knowledge was never complete. He said teaching profession was pious as it gave one a chance to learn more. He said a lamp could not burn another lamp unless it kept itself burning. He suggested that parents should desist from blaming teachers on receiving complaints about their children as that would help in shaping the future of their wards. He said every student was a “genius and unique” and to manifest these qualities in him and encourage him so that he achieved the maximum in life was the teacher’s duty. The CBSE Regional Chief was all praise for Principal Sukhvinder Singh for his tremendous contribution in the field of education. Earlier, Dr Neena Phawa, Chairperson of the managing committee, welcomed the guests and the parents. The Principal said GAV Public School had received the National Shiksha Bharti Award, National Gold Star and Best School Awards, besides other awards and had achieved excellence in academics too. Students presented a cultural programme with dances and skits regarding the deteriorating cultural values in society and environmental pollution and steps to improve them. Old students of the school were also honoured on the occasion. The programme was dedicated to the Kargil martyrs. |
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CPM to support traders’ Dec 1 bandh call
Shimla, November 28 The state committee of the CPM will decide on the future course of action after a meeting. The party has called upon all sections of people and political entities to jointly oppose this move. Member of the state Secretariat Tikender Panwar said in the meantime party workers would hold protests against this anti-people step and defend the core of small retailers and their families, whose livelihood was under a threat. He said the CPM strongly opposed the decision as it would destroy the livelihoods of small retailers and lead to monopolisation of the retail sector by multi-national companies. Coming at a time when inflation was persistently high, joblessness growing and farmers in distress, the decision showed the callous attitude and anti-people character of the UPA Government. The investment floor of Rs 520 crore was insignificant for giant retailers like Walmart and Tesco which were multi-billion dollar companies. India had the highest shopping density in the world of 11 shops per 1,000 persons and there were over 1.2 crore shops in India employing over four crore persons, 95 per cent of these were run by self-employed persons in less than 500-sq ft area. They would be hit the hardest with the entry of MNC retailers. The condition for making at least 50 per cent of the investment in “back-end” infrastructure was being cited to argue that this would lead to more cold chains and other logistics, benefiting farmers. International experience had, however, shown that procurement by MNC retailers did not benefit small farmers. Over a time they received depressed prices and found it difficult to meet the arbitrary quality standards. Predatory pricing by the MNCs would eliminate competition and establish their control over the supply of a range of commodities, including essentials like food. The domestic market would be flooded with goods procured from foreign countries. The claim that it would down retail prices for consumers was utterly bogus. |
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Seminar on choice-based system for evaluation
Shimla, November 28 He was speaking at the inauguration of a national seminar-cum-colloquium on “Choice- Based and Credit-Based System (CBCS) for Assessment and Evaluation at the HPU today. The seminar was organised jointly by the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) for Education and the Department of Geography. He said the study of interdisciplinary courses and subjects was the need of the hour and emphasis should be on teaching interdependent and interdisciplinary courses. In his key-note address, Prof Yoginder Verma, Dean, Academics Central University, Dharamsala, said: “We have got an opportunity to adopt credit and choice-based system for assessment and evaluation for the facility of students, especially those in service with the public and the private sector.” Another speaker Prof Bhupinder Singh Marh, Dean, Social Sciences, said by adopting the system, the dialogue initiated would be beneficial for the student community and make them comparable and competitive not only in the country but also in the international academic arena. Prof PK Ahluwalia, Dean, Planning and Teachers Matters, and brainchild behind the interdiction of the CBCS said there was an urgent need for introduction of the CBCS system in our academic institutions, especially in those involved in the higher education.
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HPU, Russian varsity ink pact
Shimla, November 28 The agreement was signed in the presence of Prof ADN Bajpai, Vice-Chancellor, HPU; Dr Dmitry E Chelyshev, counsellor (culture), Embassy of the Russian Federation; and Dr Irina P Chelysheva, senior research scholar, Indian history, religion and philosophy; here today. According to the agreement, the collaboration will be called the “Altai-Indian Himalaya Scientific and Cultural Exchange Forum”, which will undertake various activities.
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Karcham project helps contain Nathpa silt level
Shimla, November 28 The country’s largest hydropower project, which has been facing operational problems due to high levels of silt during every monsoon season, had a smooth sailing this year as the dam built for diversion of water for the Karcham Wangtu Project also acted as a silt-retention structure. The project, which remained shut down for 22 days due to high level of silt last season, was closed down only for four-and- a-half days this year. The comparative silt data indicated that last year over 11 lakh tonnes of silt passed through the turbines during the rainy season when the turbulent Sutlej was in spate with the discharge shooting up from the normal 600 cumecs to 2,000 cumecs. The level of silt also exceeded the permissible limit of 4,000 ppm (parts per million), forcing frequent closure of the plant. This season only 7.50 lakh tonnes of silt passed through each turbine and there was not much damage. In fact, the management even experimented by operating the project up to the silt level of 5,000 ppm. The comparative data reveals that the silt load had been reduced by at least 25 per cent and thus engineers could afford to keep it operational even at a higher level of silt. As a result, the project has generated a record 6,702 million units of power since April 1, 2011, which is 750 million units more than the target fixed by the Union Ministry of Power. Last year, only 6,083 million units had been generated during the same period. The project is daily generating 9.2 million units of power and as such it is set to surpass the last financial year’s achievement of 7,140 million units by a huge margin.
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100 old students attend dental college alumni meet
Sundernagar, November 28 Speaking on the occasion, Chairman of college and chief guest Dr VK Gupta spoke on how the college had struggled initially and then turned into a successful organisation. He also applauded the role being played by the alumni of the college which gave him a sense of pride and contentment. He felicitated senior members of the faculty and non-teaching staff. Welcoming the participants, Dr Vinod Sachdev, Principal, expressed happiness over students’ achievements and praised their contribution to the society in general. He recited some old episodes much to the delight of the congregation. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Anil Singla, Director, congratulated the alumni on their spectacular achievements and expressed gratefulness for having made the college proud. Dr Vikas Jindal, Director, also spoke about old days of the college. While introducing themselves, the graduates of the college expressed their happiness over having shared moments of surprise, joy and exhilaration with their long-lost friends. — OC
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Major-General visits Palchan military station
Kullu, November 28 He also reviewed the CSD and other welfare schemes available for the ex-servicemen of Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts. He commended the commitment of Army personnel and called upon them to remain extra vigilant. |
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2.3 kg charas seized
Chamba, November 28 In another incident, the police recovered 800 gm charas from Sanjay Kumar at Taleru near the Chamera Dam. Two cases had been registered.
— OC
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New Delhi, November 28
Shimla, November 28