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Landslides bring vehicular traffic to a standstill
Earthen dam washed away
Dhumal on inauguration, stone-laying spree
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BJP on way out: Kaul Singh
5 injured in road accidents
Rain disrupts life in Kangra
Maintenance of Old-Age Homes
Nepalese woman goes missing
Truckers oppose multi-axle vehicles
Workshop on burn injuries held
Minor girl raped
Cong to submit chargesheet on Aug 22
BJP flays Cong for targeting CAG
Villagers block traffic over youth’s death
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Landslides bring vehicular traffic to a standstill
Mandi, August 19 Patients seeking treatment at the Zonal Hospital in Mandi and at the Sarkaghat hospital, besides others, had a harrowing time as the Mandi-Sandhol road remained closed for more than 10 hours. Those who took the road via Jogindernagar were stuck at Guma. “The Dharampur MLA, who is also Transport Minister, is yet to expedite work on clearing roads after landslides,” said Bhupender Singh of Dharwar. The Sandhol-Dharampur road was closed since last night, but the public works department was yet to restore traffic. “We have a two-day holiday, but are stuck here,” rued Roshan Lal. Tourists and other passengers were stranded at Saat Meel from 12 noon to 1 pm as boulders rolled down. They also faced a landslide at Quari near Mandi and at Duad. Traffic was restored, but falling boulders continued to pose a risk. Debris flooded the Pandoh market. Water from the Pandoh battalion camp got blocked and washed away loose soil, said RK Verma of Pandoh. The debris was cleared with the use of JCB machines. A car driver rammed his vehicle into a pole at a sharp curve near Pandoh due to poor visibility, but escaped unhurt.
Earthen dam washed away
Bilaspur, August 19 The loss was estimated to be at least Rs 6 lakh. Since the incident occurred at night, there was no loss of life or cattle. The earthen dam was constructed about two months back for collecting flood water in a tank. An official working on the project stated that the earthen dam was still under construction and the contractor would get it repaired shortly. |
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Dhumal on inauguration, stone-laying spree
Dharamsala, August 19 He inaugurated the building of the Food and Craft Institute at Khaniara village. Constructed at a cost of Rs 5.51 crore, it will provide diploma and degree courses in cookery courses. He also inaugurated the new Mini-Secretariat building. Built at a cost of Rs 8 crore, it will house almost all government offices, including the Deputy Commissioner’s. Asked if this would mean the official second capital status for Dharamsala, he said the proposal would be considered by the government. Dhumal dedicated the synthetic athletics track to the people. Developed at a cost of Rs 2 crore, it was laid near the cricket stadium. He also laid the foundation stone of a new parking lot near the stadium. The state government had sanctioned Rs 2 crore for the new parking lot. The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of a new pavilion at the stadium. It would be constructed at a cost of Rs 92 lakh. He also inaugurated the zila parishad shopping complex, the office of the Deputy Director (Prosecution) and a forensic laboratory. He laid the stone of a transit hotel at the police battalion headquarters in Sakoh.
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BJP on way out: Kaul Singh
Shimla, August 19 Addressing a press conference here, he said the exercise was carried out to benefit a particular officer. Corruption was at its peak under the BJP regime, he claimed. Dhumal had taken a number of desperate decisions which left little doubt in the minds of the people that the government was on its way out, he added. Reports that former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda had acquired a stake in the private university at Kathgarh in Kangra had proved the Congress charge that the land mafia was being promoted in the garb of universities, he stated. Kaul Singh said Solan district was the worst victim of the land mafia, with 11 private universities, including three in the area under one panchayat, coming up. The mining mafia was plundering riverbeds and hills while the liquor mafia was active in the home district of the Chief Minister, he said. No action was being taken against them as they were close to the ruling party, he claimed. Kaul Singh said the state government was unable to spend funds made available under Central schemes. He said expenditure under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme declined from Rs 650 crore to Rs 525 crore and finally, to Rs 415 crore last year. The government had failed to maintain roads properly, he said, citing the example of the Theog-Hatkoti road. Apple-growers were the worst sufferers as they paid between four and five times the normal rates for transportation of fruit to markets, he added.
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5 injured in road accidents
Kangra, August 19 In another accident, one person was injured when the Scooty he was driving collided with an HRTC bus (HP 36 A 0282) near Dehra. He was admitted to the Civil Hospital, Dehra. The police has registered a case against bus driver Suresh Chand and Scooty driver Drub Singh under Sections 279 and 337,
IPC. |
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Rain disrupts life in Kangra
Kangra, August 19 PWD Executive Engineer Vijay Kumar said the Kangra-Bhown-Ladwara road was washed away at Badiyara. He added that the Shahpur-Drheni road was blocked. He said the old Kangra-Bordkuwalu road was washed away at three places. He added that traffic was disrupted on the Dhaulatpur-Kulthi road at Kulthi. |
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Grant approval to scheme, govt urged
Tribune News Service
Shimla, August 19 Chairman of the foundation Ajai Srivastava apprehended that the scheme framed after he exposed gross violation of human rights and the plight of inmates at the Old-Age Home in Basantpur might not be implemented if the model code of conduct came into force. He said its non-implementation would only hurt the interests of the aged lodged in various institutions of the state. Srivastava said it was a big achievement for the foundation, which had started crusade for the protection of human rights of destitute senior citizens. He also made suggestions to improve the scheme the objective of which was to improve the quality of life of aged destitute persons by providing basic amenities like shelter, food, health and social opportunities to them. Not only quality food and clothing would be provided to inmates, but their recreational requirements would also be taken care of by providing facilities like TV, books, magazines, newspapers and organising regular outings, religious and cultural programmes. An old-age home with minimum 25 inmates would get Rs 13,98,000 per annum and a one-time grant of Rs 2,00,000. A committee headed by the Principal Secretary, Empowerment and Social Justice, would monitor the scheme at the state level and its implementation would be evaluated by an independent agency after every three years. There was a provision for day-care centres for senior citizens in urban areas. Facilities like health care, recreation, counselling, peer interaction, entertainment, spiritual and religious programmes would be provided at these centres for which the government would give Rs 3,20,000 annually and a one-time grant of Rs 4,20,000. Srivastava said a post of warden and a full-time nurse should also be included in the scheme and routine health check-up of all inmates of homes must be ensured. He suggested that these homes should be located in cities so that inmates did not have to live in isolation.
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Nepalese woman goes missing
Kangra, August 19 Kangra Sub-Divisional Police Officer Dinesh K Sharma said Dal Bhadur, a Nepalese national, had been living with his wife Pinky and three children at Lunj village in this sub-division for the past over a decade. He said Pinky left home on August 7 telling her husband that she was going to visit her relatives in Dehradun. However, she did not reach Dehradun. Her husband had no communication with her since then. In his complaint, Dal Bhadur alleged that she had been kidnapped by Gopal. A case has been registered. |
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Truckers oppose multi-axle vehicles
Bilaspur, August 19 The general house was summoned at Barmana yesterday on the directions of the state high court for taking this decision. It was presided over by district cooperative inspector BR Kaundal. A total of 1,263 truck operators turned up at the general house. Out of them 958 voted against this proposal and rejected multi-axle trucks. Only 294 truck operators favoured this suggestion and said these vehicles should be allowed to be introduced in the loading works. Eleven votes were rejected as invalid. Now, this vote count will be reported by the Cooperative Department to the high court.
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BJP ready for snap poll: CM
Dharamsala, August 19 He said they would tell the people that Congress leaders did not support the resolution seeking the extension of the industrial package to the state. He said the Congress-led UPA government had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court against the state government in the case of the state’s share in the BBMB. He asked Congress leaders to clarify the role of senior leaders in the 2G scam, worth Rs 1.75 lakh crore, the Commonwealth Games scam, worth Rs 75,000 crore, and the coal-gate scam, worth Rs 1.88 lakh crore. NURPUR: Dhumal said here on Sunday that the process of re-entry of the three MLAs who had won in the previous Assembly elections as Independents after denial of party ticket was under way. Addressing a press conference, he said the party high command would take a decision in this regard and candidates with chances of victory would be given party ticket. Talking about the demand of the Congress for early Assembly elections, he said the BJP was set for elections. He added that the government had no apprehension in seeking a fresh mandate. “The Election Commission can declare elections any time. The state government has launched its policies and programmes, which have benefited every section of society,” he said. Asked about the proposal on new districts, he said it depended on consensus among people and leaders in Kangra district. The Chief Minister admitted that some BJP leaders had reservations on the issue. He added that the state government was keen to carve out news districts. |
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Workshop on burn injuries held
Hamirpur, August 18 Addressing the audience, the DC said a pilot project had been started on burn injuries in three districts of the state and Hamirpur was one of these. He said a surgeon had been appointed in the Regional Hospital, Hamirpur, for the treatment of burn injuries and a special ambulance also been provided.He said workshops were being held through which awareness was being created for the prevention and treatment of burn injuries. Thakur said burn injuries in more than 40 per cent cases were fatal and children and women were the majority victims. Even survivors had to live with life-long scars. Therefore, awareness was very important on burn injuries, he added. Surgeon Nikhil Ahluwalia spoke in detail about burn injuries in this workshop.
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Minor girl raped
Kangra, August 19
When the accused came to know that she was alone in the house, he allegedly raped her. When her father Madan Lal returned, she narrated her tale of woe. Madan Lal lodged a complaint with the Kangra police and a case under Sections 376 and 452, IPC, was registered and the accused Amit Kumar was arrested. The girl was medically examined at the Civil Hospital here late last night and the final medical examination report was awaited, the police officer said. |
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Cong to submit chargesheet on Aug 22
Shimla, August 19 Congress leaders claim that the document will be different from the one released by the state BJP chief Satpal Satti and will set the agenda for the Assembly poll. The manifesto committee of the party, headed by Union minister Anand Sharma, will meet in Delhi the same evening. The party will ‘gherao’ the Vidhan Sabha on the opening day of the monsoon session and hold a rally on August 27. It also decided to hold ‘parivartan’ rallies in all districts in the second phase and in every Assembly constituency in the third and final phase. The party would also start the screening of candidates for the 68 seats. Learning from its mistakes in Punjab and Uttarakhand, the party high command would try to give ticket to candidates with chances of winning by rising above factional considerations. The move to appoint a working president to bridge the factional divide might not be through. There were indications from state Congress chief Kaul Singh, who maintained that there was no need for a working president in a small state. With Assembly elections fast approaching, such a move would not help, he said. He stated that there was no such move at the level of the high command. He said there was no truth in reports that he had resigned. He added that was given a second consecutive term as state party chief by Sonia Gandhi because of his good performance. He further said he would stay in office as long as she wished and would quit if she asked him to. He said the party would go to the polls under a joint leadership and the chief ministerial candidate would be decided after the declaration of results. He added that Sonia Gandhi would take the final call on the issue.
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BJP flays Cong for targeting CAG
Shimla, August 19 Spokesperson of the party Ganesh Dutt said here today that the Congress, which stood fully exposed due to the report of the CAG, was trying to wriggle out of the tight situation by raising fingers on the competency of the important instrument of accountability in the democratic set up. The remarks of Congress leader Manish Tiwari that the CAG had become accustomed to affixing zeroes were in a bad taste and an insult to the institution. He said besides CAG, Congress leaders had been targeting the Election Commission of India and were raising questions on court verdicts. The coalgate scam involving Rs 1.88 lakh crore was even bigger than the 2G Spectrum allotment sandal. Instead of raising an accusing finger at CAG, the Congress should offer an apology to the nation for causing such huge loss to the government exchequer.
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Villagers block traffic over youth’s death
Solan, August 19 A group of about 150 villagers, who blocked the traffic from 1.30pm to 3pm yesterday, were peeved at the contractor’s indifferent attitude as he not only evaded talking to villagers over the phone, but also showed no inclination to pay any compensation to the deceased person’s kin. The deceased was a resident of Tipra village in Baddi. The problem was compounded when an official of the HP State Electricity Board (HPSEB) said the board was not liable for providing any compensation to the victim as the deceased was an employee of the contractor who had been hired by the HPSEB. The contractor, who has employed several other youth from surrounding villages, has also failed to deposit the ESI and PF contributions of workers he had employed for the past over a year. This caused unrest among local residents, who raised slogans against him and demanded a written undertaking that he would provide all dues to the family of the deceased from the board. Pradhan of Batolikalan panchayat Achar Singh Kaushal and pradhan of Surajpur panchayat Laxman Chowdhary, who led the agitation, said they would not lift the blockade till the contractor was arrested. The villagers said it was unfair to let off the contractor as he was duping youth by not crediting any ESI or PF contributions into their accounts. SP, Baddi, Gurdev Chand Sharma said the blockade was lifted after a case was registered against the contractor.
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A number of roads in areas around Mandi town remained closed for hours due to landslides, triggered by rain, in the last 24 hours.
Amid the heaviest rainfall this monsoon, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was on an inauguration and foundation-stone laying spree here today, opening and laying stones of nine infrastructure projects.
Kangra, August 19
