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Third parties to play spoilsport for main players
Bajwa meets Cong ticket aspirants from Kangra
Palampur bus mishap |
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NHAI takes steps to prevent accidents on NH-21
Land deals: Satti dares Virbhadra to open debate
State BJP president Satpal Satti addresses mediapersons in Shimla on Wednesday.
Sirmaur witnessing speedy development: CM
Shanta accuses political parties of tarnishing image
BJP on path of dynasty politics
Congress holds protest
Congress workers hand over a memorandum to the Tehsildar at Shahpur on Wednesday. Photo: Ashok Raina
Workshop on krishi vigyan kendras begins
CD case: Court reserves order for Sept 15
Panel formed to keep tab on ‘paid news’
Tractor unit workers stage protest dharna
Bus stand project: Govt, Mandi Bachao Morcha on collision course
State-of-the-art data centre for HPPCL
High Court acquits CPM leader
Cong leader asks Shanta to clarify stance on corruption
Samiti to boycott BJP leaders against district status demand
BJP announces state poll panel
18 injured as bus overturns, driver held
2 held for woman’s death
Date extended
CM wishes Shanta on birthday
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Third parties to play spoilsport for main players
Shimla, September 12 The BSP, which won one seat but polled 7 per cent votes in the 2007 poll, has already declared that it will contest all the 68 seats and the TMC and the NCP are also likely to field candidates in a majority of seats. However, it is the emergence of the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), the breakaway BJP group, which has once again raised the vision of a third political force in the state where the electoral arena has been traditionally dominated by the Congress and the BJP. It has roped in the CPM and the CPI to form the Himachal Loktantrik Morcha (HLM) and also entered into a broad understanding with the newly set up Swabhiman Party. Whether or not the third parties emerge as a force to reckon with, they are going to play spoilsport for the two main parties. More so, as a meagre two per cent swing in votes is enough to tilt the electoral scales in the state. Efforts to form a third front have not been successful in the past. The appearance of a potential third force like the Janata Dal (1990) and the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) (1998) during Assembly elections has dented the vote bank of the main parties, but the politics in the state largely remained bipolar. During the 1998 Assembly poll, the HVC won five out of the 68 seats by polling 9.63 per cent votes and party supremo Sukh Ram played the kingmaker by installing PK Dhumal as the Chief Minister in the wake of a hung Assembly. However, with the merger of the HVC into the Congress in 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the third political force was eliminated from the scene. This time the HLP has been formed by Shanta Kumar loyalists and headed by Maheshwar Singh, a former state BJP chief and a leader with sufficient political clout. Further, the state of the faction-ridden BJP and the Congress is much worse than 1998. It remains to be seen if the HLM and allies can emerge as the kingmaker this time. |
Bajwa meets Cong ticket aspirants from Kangra
Dharamsala, September 12 Bajwa, who has been appointed as observer in the Kangra parliamentary constituency by the party high command, met more than 200 aspirants of the Congress ticket from 17 Assembly segments of the said area. While talking to The Tribune, Bajwa said winning ability was the only criterion on which candidates were being assessed by the party high command. The Congress had learnt from its mistakes in Punjab and would not repeat these in Himachal. Maximum care would be taken that the factionalism within the party was curbed. The party would announce candidates at the earliest. In Punjab, the Congress lost 22 Assembly segments due to internal strife. The Congress, along with its rebels, bagged about 45 per cent vote in the Punjab Assembly elections and due to this, the SAD-BJP combine came to power by getting just 42 per cent votes. However, in the coming elections of Himachal no such thing would be allowed to happen, he said. Bajwa said: “I have met HPCC president Virbhadra Singh and he has also stressed that the winning ability should be the sole criterion while deciding candidates.” When asked how the Congress was planning to tackle the allegation that the entire Congress leadership of the party was centered at Shimla, Bajwa said the aspirations of leaders from lower areas could not be ignored. He, however, parried the question regarding re-entry of former Congress minister Vijay Singh Mankotia into the party by saying it was the prerogative of the party high command. He said he would shortlist three candidates from each Assembly segment of the Kangra constituency and submit the same to party president Sonia Gandhi within three-four days. Senior Congress leaders from Kangra, including former MP and vice-president of the HPCC Chander Kumar, MLA from Nagrota Bagwan and former minister GS Bali and MLA from Bhatiyat in Chamba district Kuldeep Singh Pathania, met Bajwa and provided him feedback regarding their respective areas. Bajwa had a tough time tackling a large number of ticket aspirants who approached him to lobby their case. He said, “I had issued directions that only ticket aspirants should come to meet me. They should not bring in their supporters.” |
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Cong seeks FIR against Transport Minister
Tribune News Service
Shimla, September 12 It also demanded a high-level inquiry by a serving or a retired judge of the high court to determine the criminal culpability of those responsible for more than 3,000 deaths in road accidents over the past three years. In a joint statement, party general secretaries Ram Lal Thakur and Sudhir Sharma, put the blame squarely on the “incompetent, corrupt and bankrupt” BJP government for the tragedy. They also accused the minister of diverting more than one 100 new buses to a particular transport depot at the expense of other areas which were left with no choice except to ply old buses. They also pointed out that the losses of the Himachal Raod Transport Corporation (HRTC) had mounted to Rs 576 crore and the corporation had failed to replace nearly 400 old buses. Over 600 lives had been lost in the current year itself, while 1,072 people were killed last year, they added. The number of private buses had crossed 3,500 due to indiscriminate privatisation, whereas the fleet of the HRTC had a strength of 2,018 buses and its occupancy had come down to 58 per cent from 72 per cent five years ago. There were blatant irregularities in the recruitment of drivers putting the lives of those travelling in HRTC buses at risk. Recently, the high court had summoned the records of the driving tests held in Mandi for the recruitment of 292 drivers, where it had been alleged that the Transport Minister had favoured a particular district at the expense of other districts. The charges had been made against the Transport Minister often and recently in the appointment of drivers for the fleet of buses of the Municipal Corporation, Shimla. Allegations were also made that Anita Sandal, BJP candidate from Paragpur, Kangra, and a member of the Youth Against Corruption headed by Anurag Thakur, was selling jobs, including those of drivers in the HRTC, charging Rs 1.25 lakh per vacancy. Almost 98 per cent of the population was dependent on road transport, but the safety of passengers was being completely neglected. Overloading, travelling on the roof and the use of mobile phones while driving had become common as a large number of bus operators enjoying political protection were not penalised. Many of them were plying without valid route permits and evading taxes as pointed out by Ram Pratap in a writ petition in the high court. |
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NHAI takes steps to prevent accidents on NH-21
Mandi, September 12 According to a PWD (NH wing) survey, 75 black spots have been identified on the NH-21 between Ghara Morha barrier in Bilaspur, the entry point of Himachal and Manali. More than two accidents had taken place at
these spots. Though the NHAI has put up a crash barrier between Duod near Pandoh and Aut, the most accident-prone stretch on the highway, the PWD is yet to cover other stretches between Mandi and Pandoh and Aut
and Manali. Another accident-prone stretch between Sundernagar and Ner Chowk remains a grey area. The side parking by trucks and local vehicles and auto repair shops have encroached the pavements on the highway. The state traffic police and regional transport officers (RTOs), who are responsible to check overspeeding and overloading on the highways, have no “dedicated system to check overspeeding and drunken driving during the day
time and peak hours on the highways”. Even public awareness on sign boards and traffic rules remain scanty and rules are flouted more. Executive Engineer, NH-21, Sunil Kapur said they had covered 45 black spots and put crash barriers, signs boards, while lines or dividers to sound the commuters. Work was in progress to cover the rest of the 30 black spots on the highway, he added. After an inspection of some of the black spots on the highway between Balispur and Swarghat Barrier recently by DGP ID Bhandari, the police was putting up CCTVs at some key locations to check
offenders. SP, Mandi, Abhishek Dular said they had put up CCTVs at Aut, Ghatta and Sundernagar. “We have put dopplar radars to check overspeeding on the highway besides deploying highway patrol,” he added. |
Land deals: Satti dares Virbhadra to open debate
Shimla, September 12 Addressing a press conference here today, Satti said people of the state had the right to know the truth, which could be known only when the two parties held a debate in full public glare. “If the Congress is sure about allegations of Himachal being on sale during the BJP regime, then Virbhadra should have no hesitation in accepting the challenge,” he remarked. While giving details of the land held allegedly in excess of the permissible limit under the HP Ceiling of Land Holding Act, 1972, by Arun Sen, brother-in-law of Virbhadra, he said a major chunk of this land, meant to be surrendered, had already been sold. “It is not just in case of Sen, but in several other instances, including that of Amarnath Aggarwal Builders, Himalayan Fertilisers, Nicholas Piramal, Kurien Hotel and ABN Indian Biotech Ltd, that the norms were violated to give unjust benefit to people,” he alleged. Satti said the Congress, during its regime, had given permission in 2,398 cases to outsiders to buy land in the state as compared to 1,497 cases by the BJP. He added that Congress had given permission to 42 builders under the HP Apartment and Property Regulation Act as compared to 18 by the BJP regime. Taking a dig at the manner in which the former Union Minister was appointed HPCC chief, he said his own party men like his predecessor Kaul Singh were openly accusing him of having got the post using muscle and money power. “He has himself admitted to holding excess land than the permissible limit and now he is facing corruption charges in the CD case, so he should first clarify to the public about these allegations and only then point fingers at others,” he remarked. Launching a personal attack on the former Chief Minister, Satti said he had always used his dictatorial ways to get his way around. “Is he against development for the welfare of the public as he is seeking enforcement of the code of conduct merely to stop the BJP regime from inaugurating completed projects?” he asked. The state BJP chief also took exception to the remarks made by Virbhadra about HP Cricket Association chief Anurag Thakur. He added there was no bar on children of politicians to do business or any work provided it was as per rules and regulations. |
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Sirmaur witnessing speedy development: CM
Solan, September 12 He laid foundation stones of various new buildings that included the Government Degree College building at Sarahan to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2 crore, tehsil office building to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.53 crore and a Rs 55-lakh tourist hut at Sarahan in Sirmaur district. He also inaugurated an additional building of Government Senior Secondary School, Sarahan. The Chief Minister, while addressing a public rally at Sarahan, said the state had witnessed speedy development during the past four years and their claim was corroborated by independent surveys conducted by national and international agencies where the state’s performance was declared the best. Giving comparative figures of developmental works undertaken by the BJP government and the previous Congress regime, Dhumal said Rs 33.15 crore had been spent by the BJP regime on roads and bridges in the Pachhad area in over four years whereas the Congress government had spent barely Rs 15.40 crore during its tenure. Besides, 218-km of roads had been provided cross drainage by the BJP government as against 80 km in this area by the Congress and they were spending Rs 62 crore under NABARD schemes in Sirmaur district as against Rs 15 crore spent by the Congress regime. He said Rs 142 crore were being spent on widening of the Kumarhatti-Nahan road with over 50 per cent work having been completed while the remaining was being completed on a war footing. Dhumal said 33-KV power stations at Baru Sahib and Sarahan was being set up and a helipad would also be constructed at Baru. The issue for opening a gas agency at Sarahan would be taken up with the Centre. He said special emphasis was laid on tourism development in Sirmaur district and Rs 7.36 crore was being spent on developing tourism in Paonta Sahib, Dhaula Kuan, Deedag and Kufta. Chander Mohan, chairman, HP State Cooperative Bank, MLA Rajeev Bindal, and MP Virender Kashyap, chairperson of zila parishad Dayal Pyari were among those present. The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stones of a residential complex of Government Degree College, Shillai, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.34 crore, ITI building, Shillai, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2.34 crore and additional block of community health centre, Shillai, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.03 crore in Sirmaur district today. While addressing a public meeting at Shillai this evening he said under the Pandit Deen Dayal Kisan Baagwan Samridhi Yojna, an additional budgetary provision of Rs 190 crore had been made and the scheme had been extended for another three years. The Chief Minister said 27 more ambulances would be added to the existing fleet of ambulances under the Atal Swasthya Sewa Yojna. He added that Rs 34 crore had been spent on various developmental activities in the Shillai area, besides 15 villages were provided road connectivity and 23 government buildings were constructed during the past over four years. |
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Shanta accuses political parties of tarnishing image
Palampur, September 12 The media had also reported that Shanta Kumar joined hands with corrupt politicians of the state, he said. Shanta termed such media reports false and far from truth. Addressing a press conference at his residence here today, Shanta said he was deeply hurt over the recent political developments in the state. He categorically stated that allegations being levelled against him by the Congress and splinter groups of the BJP were politically motivated and his crusade against corruption in public life would continue till the end. He would never compromise on his principles at the fag end of his political career when he had already crossed 78. Shanta did not rule out deep-rooted political conspiracy being hatched against him by his rivals with an intention to keep him away from the political scenario of the state. He said he could name any one at this juncture. However, without quoting his rivals in the BJP or the Congress, he said people of the state were well conversant who were behind this sinister campaign or media trial and what was their motive. Shanta said there had been a decline in the political values of leaders in the country, therefore corruption in public life had gone up and the common man was in search of an alternative. It was a matter of concern for the nation that national political parties like the BJP and the Congress were squeezing their mass base in the country and regional parties were coming up. Ultimately, these parties were entering into unhealthy political adjustments to grab power . He said the BJP would not give the party ticket to any MLA or minister in the state facing corruption charges in the Assembly elections. |
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BJP on path of dynasty politics
Shimla, September 12 The BJP is no longer being a party with a difference as several kith and kin of senior leaders have made politics their full-time profession while others are desperate to make their political debut. The core group of the BJP is scheduled to hold its meeting on September 14 in Delhi to discuss the sensitive issue of ticket allotment, a majority of which is likely to be finalised except where there is a major dispute. Though the name of Arun Dhumal, younger son of Chief Minister PK Dhumal, starting his political innings from the Assembly elections from Hamirpur district is doing the rounds, there is nothing official about it so far. Dhumal is already facing a lot of criticism for patronising his son Anurag Thakur, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur and also the national president of the BJYM. Some of the senior leaders, including Education Minister ID Dhiman and former minister and sitting MLA Roop Singh Thakur, are keen to see their sons being declared their political heirs in this poll. The two leaders who are not too active politically are keen that their sons assume their political roles sooner than later. Son of Dhiman is serving as a medical officer in the Health Department while Roop Singh’s son is the general secretary of the Sundernagar BJP Mandal. Mallika Nadda, a teacher with the HPU and wife of BJP national general Secretary JP Nadda, too is a strong contender for the party ticket from Bilaspur (Sadar), vacated by Nadda after becoming a Rajya Sabha MP. Assembly Speaker Tulsi Ram too is keen to take a backseat and introduce his son who is a zila parishad member into electoral politics from his home turf of Bharmour. Added to this list of contenders for the party ticket is the name of Sudha Sushant, wife of Kangra Lok Sabha MP Rajan Sushnat from Fatehpur. She had resigned from her job as a teacher in the Education Department during the 2007 Assembly elections and is keen to make it to the state Assembly at any cost. Political circles are rife with speculation that the belligerent leader has already had talks with both Dhumal and Shanta to accommodate his wife in the Assembly poll this time. |
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Congress holds protest
Kangra, September 12 Addressing the protestors, Pathania said the road condition was horrible in the state. Citing the example of the Pathankot-Mandi national highway, he said this national highway had turned into a khad with authorities being mute spectators. He demanded a high-level inquiry in the road mess. He charged the government for the foundation stone-laying spree without any budgetary provisions for these projects. He said during the last more than four and half years BJP rule in the state no major project was set up in the Shahpur constituency. He said when Virbhadra Singh was the Chief Minister, the offices of Executive Engineer, IPH, Tehsildar, Sub Tehsil at Harchakian, CHC Shahpur, Government Degree College and Rs 55-crore Kholi power project was set up in Shahpur. He alleged that Kholi II project foundation stone was laid by Chief Minister PK Dhumal two years back, but the project was left in a lurch from its first day. He said if the Congress came to power, Shahpur would be subdivisional headquarters. He claimed that Congress workers blocked the National Highway for more than half an hour at Shahpur under protest. |
Workshop on krishi vigyan kendras begins
Palampur, September 12 The Vice-Chancellor of the host university, Dr SK Sharma, said since the establishment of the first KVK in 1974, these unique institutions of the country had undergone a sea change as per the emerging needs and challenges in the field of Indian agriculture. He also spoke about the new “Farmers’ first” programme to be launched by the ICAR where gaps between technologies developed by scientists and actual technological needs of the farming community would be abridged. He also underlined the need to transfer potent and tested technologies to farmers to help them derive maximum benefit. “Due to varied agro-climatic conditions, Himachal Pradesh presents many challenges and opportunities to scientists,” said Dr SK Sharma. Dr AM Narula, Zonal Project Director, said much needed to be done to improve the working of KVKs in the state as expectations of funding agencies and end users were very high. The ICAR system was working hard to transfer technologies by coordinating among the 630 KVKs, around 100 NGOs, agricultural departments of all state governments and agricultural universities. Dr SP Sharma, Director of Research, said farm mechanisation, training programmes on entrepreneurship and effective monitoring of on-farm trials were three immediate needs for hill farming. He said KVKs and research institutions should work in close collaboration. |
CD case: Court reserves order for Sept 15
Shimla, September 12 Today, the case was listed before the court for consideration on an application filed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau for cancelling the bail granted to Virbhadra on the grounds that he is influencing the witnesses and misusing the bail granted by the court. Special judge BL Soni after hearing the parties at length observed that the order would be announced on September15. It was alleged that a representative of Virbhadra has made an attempt to win over witness Amar Singh and in this regard he has made a complaint to the police on September 7, 2012. Sharwan Dogra, the counsel for the former CM, refuted the allegations of the prosecution contending that the prosecution had filed this frivolous application just to delay the proceedings. He further said the prosecution does not want to proceed in a fair manner, whereas Virbhadra is of the view that material witnesses should be examined during the present regime. He urged the court to examine those witnesses first, which prosecution feels were being influenced so that the public know
the truth. The Vigilance Department had lodged an FIR against Virbhadra and his wife on August 3, 2009, on the basis of an audio CD released by Vijay Singh Mankotia in a press conference at Dharamsala on May 28, 2007, alleging that it contained the voices of Virbhadra, his wife Pratibha, retired IAS officer Mohinder Lal and late KN Sharma. The case was registered under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. |
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Panel formed to keep tab on ‘paid news’
Chamba, September 12 In pursuance of the instructions on the monitoring of the election expenditure (September 2011) of the EC, a district-level Media Certification and Monitoring Committee
(MCMC) has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) who is also the district election officer. As per the orders issued by DC,
Chamba, Sunil Chaudhary, the committee has been constituted for the certification of advertisements and scrutiny of cases of paid news. To examine the complaints or issues pertaining to the paid news in connection with the Assembly elections in newspapers, the print and electronic media, cable network, Internet, mobile network etc come within the purview of the committee which will start functioning from the date of the announcement of the Assembly elections-2012. |
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Tractor unit workers stage protest dharna
Solan, September 12 The employees sat on a dharna outside the factory and raised slogans against the management. They suspended production work for the second day. The employees who were protesting under the banner of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) rued that the unit management had unfairly suspended union leader Dinesh Kumar just because he had sought leave. They said Dinesh was earlier refused leave and asked to tender his resignation, but when he refused he was allegedly beaten up by the unit management. The management rejected the offer of 400 employees to hold talks leading to the protest. Gurmel Chowdhary, vice-president, INTUC, said the agitation would continue till Dinesh was reinstated. CN Dhar, vice-president, Indo Farm Tractors, however, said since the suspended employee had indulged in indiscipline, action would be taken against him after an inquiry. |
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Bus stand project: Govt, Mandi Bachao Morcha on collision course
Mandi, September 12 Though the High Court has fixed the hearing for tomorrow, Chief Minister PK Dhumal will go ahead and inaugurate the “incomplete bus stand tomorrow”, thus creating a piquant situation in the corridors of power. MBM claims that the government is in a hurry to take credit ahead of the Assembly polls by inaugurating the incomplete Rs 16-crore bus stand project. On the other hand, the HRTC and HIMUDA, the executive agencies have approved the inauguration for tomorrow despite the fact that they have filed a reply in the High Court stating that 20 per cent of the work on the bus stand is yet to be completed. |
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State-of-the-art data centre for HPPCL
Shimla, September 12 The facility set up by a private company Orange Business Services will strengthen the HPPCL operations and help improve efficiency in the maintenance of records, inventory, logistics and billing services. This data centre, to be managed by the company for five years, will also facilitate the rollout of various IT-based applications and services at HPPCL. Chief Executive Officer of the company Bala Mahadevan said his organisation had unmatched technical capabilities and expertise in handling such projects. |
High Court acquits CPM leader
Shimla, September 12 The order of his acquittal was passed by Justice Surinder Singh on an appeal filed by Singha and the other co-accused before the High Court seeking his acquittal on the grounds of material contradictions and the case not having been proved against them by the prosecution in accordance with the law. Singha, the then Centre of Indian Trade Union
(CITU) leader, was accused of instigating the workers of Naptha Jhakri Hydro Power Project on strike from resuming
work during a strike in 1999. He was accused of hatching a conspiracy whereby the workers whereby the workers clashed with the security personnel leading to the loss of property and the death of a labourer Dev Dutt Bhatt. |
Cong leader asks Shanta to clarify stance on corruption
Bilaspur, September 12 Addressing Congress workers at Jukhala near here yesterday, Ram Lal said the latest stand of Shanta Kumar had not only baffled all, but also damaged his reputation. Ram Lal said the Election Commission should take cognizance of the BJP leaders exploiting the government and criticising Opposition leaders and thereby turning such inaugurations and foundation-laying functions of the government into political meetings. The Election Commission should enforce the code of conduct immediately to stop the same, he said. |
Samiti to boycott BJP leaders against district status demand
Palampur, September 12 Addressing mediapersons here on Monday, samiti president Jagmel Katoch said the members would oppose these BJP leaders in the Assembly polls. Katoch said the samiti would soon organise a meeting of residents of Palampur, Baijnath and Jaisinghpur subdivisions to decide on the further course of action. Meanwhile, the Palampur Welfare Forum, Palampur Beopar Mandal, Palampur Municipal Council, Save Palampur and Dhauladhar Seva Samiti have urged Chief Minister Dhumal to grant district status to
Palampur. |
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BJP announces state poll panel
Shimla, September 12 The other members of the committee include Chief Minister PK Dhumal, Shanta Kumar, Ram Swaroop Sharma, Pawan Sharma, Vipin Parmar, Jairam Thakur, Suresh Bhardwaj, Khimi Ram Sharma, Rajeev Bindal, Chandermohan Thakur, Meera Anand, Virender Kashyap, Kishan Kapoor and Rajiv Bhardwaj. |
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18 injured as bus overturns, driver held
Bilaspur, September 12 Reports said the police rushed to the spot and got the injured admitted to the BBMB Hospital, Nangal. The woman who was seriously injured was rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh. DSP Manohar Lal said the 32-seater bus was fully loaded and the driver lost control at the turn leading to the accident. The police has arrested the driver
Ram Chand of nearby Gwaalthai village. |
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2 held for woman’s death
Bilaspur, September 12 Krishna, 31, died after taking some poisonous substance at her home last night. The police arrested her husband Balwinder Singh and her mother-in-law of Kandraur near here for alleged maltreatment resulting in her death by taking poisonous substance at home yesterday night. SP Santosh Patial said that the arrests were made on the basis of a complaint filed by Krishna’s father Ram Lal of Badi Bhagot village. Krishna had returned to her in-laws only earlier day after a three-month stay with
her parents. — OC |
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Date extended
Shimla, September 12 A spokesperson said the applications could be sent to the Director,
ICDEOL, by 4 pm on September 15. |
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CM wishes Shanta on birthday
Solan, September 12 He greeted him over the phone and wished him a happy and long life. He wished that the people of the state continue to benefit under his guidance, experience and farsightedness. |
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