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Ticket allotment may bring back Shanta-Dhumal divide
Tibetans warned against defacing rocks, trees
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‘Crime, corruption biggest challenges’
Director-General of Police DS Manhas takes a round in a jeep during his superannuation ceremony at Bharari in Shimla on Friday. Photo: Amit Kanwar
State govt failed to
table facts: Cong
Intervene on Tibet issue, CTA urges nations
Students’ clash leaves woman injured
IIAS to emerge as global knowledge centre
BJP seeks PM’s resignation
Cong to approach EC over poll code
Ex-MLA’s daughter stakes claim to BJP ticket
Sports function of Kendriya Vidyalayas in Jammu region held
Tax evasion worth crores by firm detected
Virbhadra withdraws HC plea
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Ticket allotment may bring back Shanta-Dhumal divide
Shimla, August 31 Shanta reportedly opposed accommodating Ravinder Singh Ravi and Rajeev Bindal, who were from other constituencies. The issue of trifurcating Kangra was deliberated upon and vehemently opposed by Shanta. The issue of ticket to Rakesh Pathania, Independent MLA from Nurpur, was another issue which could bring back differences between the two leaders. Only the induction of Pathania and not of MLAs Rakesh Verma from Theog and Hira Lal from Karsog was proving a complicated issue for the party. Dhumal loyalist Pathania had defeated BJP candidate Malvika Pathania in the 2007 Assembly elections. This time, besides Malvika, Shanta loyalist Rajeev Bhardwaj was strong contender for the BJP ticket from Nurpur. Party sources said Shanta took a hard stand on the issue of accommodating Ravi from Jwalamukhi or any other Assembly segment in Kangra after his constituency Thural was merged into other segments. Shanta also expressed disapproval over efforts to accommodate former Health Minister and current state BJP general secretary Bindal from Nahan. His constituency Solan was reserved for a Scheduled Caste MLA. “Shanta expressed serious reservations about the two leaders and said they should not contest elections when block units were oppose to their candidature,” said a senior leader. The BJP was keen to decide on most of the ticket allotment at the earliest. “The party cannot afford to ignore Shanta’s views, at least in Kangra district. It remains to be seen if he will soften his stand,” admitted a Dhumal loyalist. |
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Tibetans warned against defacing rocks, trees
Dharamsala, August 31 Sandeep Sud, SDM, Dharamsala, said it was found that many rocks in the McLeodganj area were carrying writing in the Tibetan or Bhoti language. There is a clear cut directive of the high court against defacement of rocks with writing or paintings. The meeting of representatives of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) was called and they were directed to advise Tibetan refugees regarding the matter, he said. CTA representatives in a letter to the district administration have maintained that some of the carvings and paintings on rocks in the McLeodganj area belonged to a period that was before the arrival of the Dalai Lama here in 1959. Such carvings that carry religious message in different colours can be found in many parts of the country. These messages were allegedly carved out by Buddhist followers. The CTA has maintained that it cannot be held responsible for the acts of individuals. It has, however, decided to call meetings of Tibetan refugees to educate them regarding the high court directive against defacement of rocks. Local sources said besides Tibetans many tourists also use rocks in the Bhagsunag and the Dharamkot areas to illustrate their art. Many illegal kiosks brought up by locals along the trek to Baghsu waterfall provide a platform to many tourists to perform art on rocks. In the Dharamkot area, many rocks carrying writing and painting in the Hebrew language can be found. These carvings were allegedly carried out by Israeli tourists thronging the area. The ritual followed by many Tibetans to tie
cloth flags on top of trees also amounts to defacement of nature as per the court directive. The coloured flags tied on trees carry prayers in the Tibetan language. Tibetans believe that these prayers are carried by winds. Many Deodar trees in the McLeodganj and the Dharamkot areas have Tibetan flags tied to them. Many environmentalists feel that tying of cloth flags on trees also retards their growth and might ultimately lead to their drying. The SDM added that the directive had also been issued to the CTA to advise the Tibetan refugees against tying cloth flags on trees. |
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‘Crime, corruption biggest challenges’
Shimla, August 31 A ceremonial farewell was given to Manhas, a 1977 batch officer, by officers and other police personnel at the Bharari Police Lines, here today. Manhas retired today after putting in 35 years of service and serving in various capacities, including Superintendent of Police (SP), Shimla, and Shimla MC Commissioner. “The Himachal police is a dedicated, sincere and honest force with barely 175 of the 15,000 strong force facing charges of corruption, which is far less as compared to any other section of employees,” he said. He added that another thing which sets apart police personnel from others was that they were accountable and faced action in most cases. He said he was a thorough professional and always acted as per law, irrespective of who he was dealing with. “The case is in the court and I will not like to comment on it, but one thing I can say with certainty is that I have always been governed by law, which expects one to be objective and fair,” he said when asked about the controversial CD case, which had led to Congress leader Virbhadra Singh targeting him personally. He said bringing in transparency in recruitment and making promotional examination online were some of the achievement of Himachal police during his tenure. “Making the B1 examination for promotion of constables to head constables online is one of the most appreciated step and also the fact that the entire process of recruitment has been made transparent and economical has won the trust of the common man,” he said. He, however, said one area where he felt much more needed to be done was improvement in the behaviour of police personnel posted in police stations. “Even today there is not much of change and we continue to get complaints similar to what we got 10 years ago,” he said. He said rather than being receptive, they were still rude and abusive. |
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Virbhadra resorts to dinner diplomacy
Shimla, August 31 He hosted a dinner for the Congress Legislative Party here last night. It was attended by 20 of the 23 MLAs. The dinner was an attempt to ease the tension created due to the leadership tussle which had divided MLAs. Former HPCC chief Kaul Singh, GS Bali of Kangra and Chintpurni MLA Rakesh Kalia, who were in the rival camp, were absent. Kaul Singh said he was in Delhi to receive his daughter, who was returning from abroad. The decision to suspend 12 low-rung leaders in his constituency Rohru did not enthuse partymen. It could fuel factional fight as those suspended were mostly supporters of Kaul Singh. They included PCC member Harinder Rawat, Shimla (Rural) district Congress committee general secretary KK Chauhan and Rohru Nagar Parishad president Raj Kumar Neetu. Manjit Singh, who unsuccessfully contested the byelection from Rohru, was also suspended. Virbhadra Singh also appointed Raja Awasthy, who was with him as media adviser while he was Union minister, as his public relations officer and reallocated work to HPCC office-bearers to assign important responsibilities to his loyalists. He assigned Una district and the intellectual department to Chander Kumar, Ajay Mahajan and Kuldeep
Pathania, Bilaspur district and the education department to Sujan Singh Pathania and Ajai Verma and Shimla and Kinnaur Virbhadra Singh assigned organisational affairs to Vinod Sultanpuri and Ajai Solanki, Sirmour district, the Khet Khalihan Congress and the Sewa Dal to Sudhir Sharma and Amit Pal, Kangra district and the Scheduled Caste department to Ram Lal Thakur and Amit Nanda, Kullu district and the minority department to Sukhwinder Singh and Namita Chaudhary and Hamirpur district and the Scheduled Tribe department to Kuldeep Rathore and Kewal Pathania. Virbhadra Singh assigned Chamba district and the Other Backward Classes department to Rakesh Kalia and Surinder Walia, Lahaul-Spiti district and the ex-servicemen department to Ram Kumar and Pawan Nayar, Solan district and the Mahila Congress to Satya Parmar, Sohan Lal and Karnesh Jung, Mandi district and the panchayati raj department to Chander Kumar and Sushila Negi, the media and publicity department to Mukesh Agnihotri and and the minority department to Sajid Mirza.
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State govt failed to
table facts: Cong
Kangra, August 31 He said the BJP government had ‘violated’ the democratic norms of the House and ‘vitiated’ the atmosphere of the Assembly by ‘concealing’ the actual facts during the four-day session. He said despite repeated requests, during the past one year the state government failed to table the number of unemployed youths in the state. He said during the previous session too, the government had claimed that the information was being collected. He alleged that the Dhumal government was shying away from providing facts on the floor of the House feeling that the figures would leave the poll wicket sticky for the BJP in the coming polls. He said the government was ‘hand in glove’ with cement manufacturers, which had resulted in the rising prices of cement in the state. Bali said “the state was reeling under a debt of Rs 32,000 crore and in effort of creating vote bank, the government was announcing sops to employees without financial viability”. He said the state government had numerous opportunities in the field of power, education and tourism sector, but ‘failed’ to avail them due to its ‘poor’ vision. He criticised the government for using police force during the Congress protest rally in Shimla and described it as signs of ‘frustration’ in the BJP government with fear of ‘losing’ power. Describing it as painful that the lower Himachal was being ‘deliberately discriminated’ by the Dhumal government, he said there were 38 super-specialists at IGMC, Shimla, whereas there were only 13 at the DRPGMC, Tanda.
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Intervene on Tibet issue, CTA urges nations
Dharamsala, August 31 He has reportedly said: “I will not encourage these acts, these drastic actions, but it is understandable and indeed very, very sad. Now, it is up to the Chinese Government that they should investigate what are the real causes. They can easily blame me or some other Tibetans but that won't help solve the issue.” Meanwhile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has appealed to individual governments to use their good offices to engage China to end the crisis in Tibet, at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting in September. In a statement issued here today, the CTA spokesperson said the Chinese Government should allow the fact-finding delegation and the international media to visit Tibet in view of 51 Tibetans committing self-immolation. The China should also pursue a substantive dialogue with the CTA to resolve the issue of Tibet, it said. The statement said the CTA was concerned by the deteriorating situation in Tibet. Despite repeated appeals by the CTA to refrain from drastic actions, over 51 Tibetans have now set themselves afire in protest against the China’s repressive policies. Since March 2009, over 51 Tibetans between the age of 16 and 64 comprising monks, nuns, student, nomads and farmers have now set themselves afire asking for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibet, the CTA said. The whole of Tibet is effectively under undeclared martial law, and remains closed to foreign tourists and journalists. Such a response from the Chinese Government has pushed Tibetans to continue taking such steps. The responsibility for the tragic self-immolations in Tibet lies entirely with the Chinese government, so does the solution, the statement said. |
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Students’ clash leaves woman injured
Dharamsala, August 31 The old woman was left profusely bleeding with injuries in her chest. She was helped by some locals who provided her first aid. However, the college administration has not filed any police complaint against the fighting students. A few fresh entrants to the college said activists of both the NSUI and ABVP were holding DJ parties in the college. Due to unruly activities of student activists, a few students are supporting the move of Himachal Pradesh University to ban
student elections in the state. However, the decision to ban elections in colleges was reversed by Himachal Pradesh University under ‘political pressure’. |
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IIAS to emerge as global knowledge centre
Shimla, August 31 The initiative is a part of the endeavour of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to promote South-South collaboration on ways to integrate human development analysis and development strategies. The centre will serve as knowledge-sharing platform to support efforts of governments in south to ensure holistic growth through improved development outcomes for the poor and marginalised sections. Guided by the objective of translating the analysis of human development reporting to policy inputs and practices, the Centre will provide a range of services to national governments to help address human development concerns. It will also provide a range of capacity development tools and services with a special emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of human development processes and outcomes to help disseminate the policy and practice of human development across the developing world. IIAS Director Peter Ronald d’Souza said India was selected for the centre as the country had tremendous expertise in research, evaluation and preparation of human development reports. The IIAS was chosen to incubate the centre as it had a similar mandate. The centre had been started by the UNDP in partnership with the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. An agreement was signed on August 22 by Lise Grande, UNDP Resident Representative, India, and Peter Ronald deSouza on behalf of the IIAS. The project was incubated for three years. |
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BJP seeks PM’s resignation
Shimla, August 31 Addressing a press conference here today, he justified the BJP’s strategy of stalling Parliament despite criticism. “We do not wish to debate the issue in Parliament as there is no accountability. The UPA has made a mockery of the JPC and the PAC,” he said. He said the stalling of Parliament had led to action in the 2G Spectrum and Commonwealth Games scams. “The Congress had adopted the strategy of subverting constitutional bodies like the CAG,” he lamented. He said the BJP would hold public interaction at 30 places in the country on September 1 and 2 to make the people aware of the coal block allotment. “The hue and cry raised by the BJP will compel the government to act and save the exchequer from further losses,” he claimed. He accused the UPA of policy paralysis and lack of leadership and vision. “The UPA did not give any justification for allotting or rejecting companies while making coal block allotment, which was a must,” he said. He warned that the BJP would intensify its agitation if the Prime Minister did not resign. |
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Cong to approach EC over poll code
Shimla, August 31 Party president Virbhadra Singh said the BJP regime was squandering away government funds on false propaganda to meet its political aspirations. Officers were working as agents of the BJP and misusing their position to please their political masters. He said it was for the first time in the history of the state that employees were being asked to furnish affidavit to avail the benefits under the Assured Career Progression Scheme that they would not claim any arrears. The BJP government, which had been baffled by the Congress rally held on August 29, had been belatedly forced to announce the release of grade pay to employees, though it neither had the intention nor funds to do the same. |
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Ex-MLA’s daughter stakes claim to BJP ticket
Mandi, August 31 Addressing a press conference, Geeta said, “My father was an honest person and represented
Balh twice.” She said Chief Minister PK Dhumal had begun his tenure by laying the foundation stone of the Left Bank irrigation scheme and had been dedicated to people of Balh. “The party workers meet me everyday urging me to contest the polls. I want to fulfill the dreams of my father who died nine months ago,” she added. |
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Sports function of Kendriya Vidyalayas in Jammu region held
Dalhousie, August 31 Principal Meena Kulshrestha welcomed the guests. A detailed report on the sports meet was presented by KV teacher Subhash Sharma. The chief guest gave away medals to the winners. Under-14 age-group category: KV Samba, KV Jammu-I and KV Pathankot-I were first, second and third, respectively. Under-17 age-group category: KV Chamera power station-II, KV Pathankot-IV, KV Pathankot-I were first, second and third, respectively. Under-19 age-group category: KV Pathankot-I, KV Jammu-I and KV Chamera power station-II were first, second and third, respectively. |
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Tax evasion worth crores by firm detected
Solan, August 31 The software was priced at between Rs 16 and Rs 34 in Baddi, but was being sent to Mumbai through stock transfer, where it was priced at between Rs 230 and Rs 600. Markets stocks of the software further revealed that it was even being sold at Rs 7,019, which put a question mark on the value of the software and suggested tax evasion. Data revealed that the company had made transfer of the software worth Rs 1.75 crore in 2010-11, Rs 133.16 crore in 2011-2012 and Rs 23.60 lakh in 2012-13 so far. It had not paid 5 per cent VAT and entry fee, which were mandatory. The company had paid Rs 2.19 crore to a local company to stock transfer goods worth Rs 133.16 crore in 2010-2011. — OC
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Virbhadra withdraws HC plea
Shimla, August 31 He had alleged that the prosecution was applying different yardsticks to investigate two similar offences. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice DC Chaudhary permitted him to withdraw the petition. The court directed Virbhadra Singh and the prosecution to appear in the special court on September 7. The trial was pending in the special court, which had framed charges against Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha. |
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Shimla, August 31
Gurpreet Singh is IT Chief Commissioner
