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Severe cold grips most areas
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CM’s winter sojourn to Kangra postponed
BJP splits 3 big districts for better management
State BJP president Satpal Satti with former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, national general secretary JP Nadda and secretary Shyam Jaju at a meeting in Shimla on Saturday. Photo: Amit Kanwar
Ramdev gets BJP backing, his programme remains unchanged
Chandigarh-Mandi-Manali highway to be upgraded
We are prepared to fight swine flu: Kaul
Anil Sharma’s swearing-in called off at last minute
Plantation must to curb soil erosion: Minister
School alumni submit memo to DC
Cong refutes Anurag's
charge
Father, son die in car-truck collision
Rs 3.09 crore spent on Chamba tourism
IAS postings
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Severe cold grips most areas
Manali, February 23 Vehicular traffic on the Manali-Rohtang road was disrupted near Nehru Kund, 5 km from here. Tourists going to the Solang valley had to stop between Bahang and Nehru Kund. Kangra: People in the Kangra valley shivered in the cold wave conditions for the second consecutive day on Saturday following incessant rain since the morning and fresh snowfall in the Dhauladhar ranges. The sky remained overcast and rain continued till the time of the filing of this report, bringing down the temperature considerably. Life was thrown out of gear and school students were the worst affected. Reports of rain were also received from Nagrota Bagwan, Jwalamukhi, Haripur, Shahpur, Dhraman, Icchhi, Gaggal, Mallan, Lanj, Dehra and Ranital. Palampur: The area received heavy rain and snow on Saturday, disrupting life in the valley. The upper Bara Bhangal ranges received snow and the lower areas were lashed by heavy rain accompanied by strong winds. Power supply remained disrupted and telephone poles were uprooted at many places. Suburbs of the town were hit hard with no power supply for 10 hours. The field staff with the HPSEBL was working round the clock to restore power supply. A senior officer said power supply was back to normal in most areas by the evening. |
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CM’s winter sojourn to Kangra postponed
Kangra, February 23 This was disclosed here this evening by Kangra Deputy Commissioner
(DC) C Palrasu. Virbhadra had started the precedence of visiting the region during winters to strike a balance between this region of the state and upper Himachal. This winter sojourn was made for a few weeks every year to provide help to people of this region and get their grievances settled at their doorsteps. It was attached equal importance by the BJP government, led by Prof PK Dhumal, and he too continued to visit this region every winter. This year, the winter sojourn of the Chief Minister was condensed to four days and scheduled to start from February 25. On the first day, he was to hear the grievances of people at Dharamsala. The next day, he was to visit Kangra, Palampur and Baijnath. On February 27, Virbhadra was scheduled to visit Shahpur, Nurpur, Fatehpur and Jawali before leaving for Shimla on February 28. The winter sojourn was postponed at the last moment. There was no mention of the Chief Minister’s next programme to visit the district. |
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BJP splits 3 big districts for better management
Shimla, February 23 Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, national general secretary JP Nadda, national secretary Shyam Jaju and state BJP chief Satpal Satti attended the meeting of the state office-bearers here. The BJP went ahead and gave its nod to the move even though many
leaders, especially those from the Shanta Kumar camp, had serious reservations about breaking up bigger districts. Addressing a press conference, Satti said Kangra, the biggest district, would now have four organisational districts, Palampur, Nurpur, Kangra and Dehra. He said Mandi would have the organisational districts of Mandi and Sundernagar and Shimla was split into Shimla and Mahasu. He said a consensus had been reached on the issue before the meeting even though many leaders from the three districts had objections to the move. Satti lashed out at the Congress regime for changing the names of schemes started during the BJP regime. “More than 30 schemes are named after Congress leaders and the Congress should be prepared for similar treatment,” he said. He accused the Congress of trying to create an atmosphere of fear after assuming power. He claimed that employees were virtually living in fear of suspension, termination or transfer. He said the BJP would oppose any move by the Congress regime to shift offices. He alleged that the Congress was acting with political vendetta and harassing BJP workers and those close to the party. |
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Ramdev gets BJP backing, his programme remains unchanged
Shimla, February 23 Notwithstanding the sealing of the campus of the trust at Kahlog village near Sadhupul in Solan district, Ramdev’s supporters are making elaborate arrangements for his arrival and the function at Solan on February 27. Office-bearers of the trust today started the hunt for a new venue in Solan for his meeting with over 3,000
panchayat-level office-bearers from the state. “Swamiji’s programme remains just the same except change in the venue from Sadhupul to Solan and we are expecting more than 3,000 office-bearers from every panchayat of the state,” said Lakshmi Dutt Sharma, state president of the trust. He said a request had been made to the Municipal Corporation to allow the meeting with office-bearers at the Thodo ground as no other indoor venue in Solan could accommodate such a huge gathering. Even as Sharma and other trust office-bearers maintained that it was a completely non-political function, state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti today offered to support to the trust. “In case the trust and Swamiji want to lodge a protest, the BJP will fully back them,” he said. “We do not want any political party to join us as it is a trust function and we are keen to hold our office-bearers’ meeting peacefully with no confrontation with the government,” said Sharma. However, the possibility of the Ramdev’s meeting with office-bearers turning into a protest rally cannot be ruled out. With the lease being cancelled and their campus being sealed, the trust is likely to knock at the doors of the court on February 25, when the High Court will open after the winter vacation.
VHP flays govt
SOLAN: Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia today condemned the state government’s move to cancel the land lease of 28 acres granted by the previous BJP government to Swami Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth at Kehlog village near Sadhupul and said it was a revengeful act. Talking to mediapersons at
Nalagarh, where he had come to attend the Dharma Raksha Nidhi programme organised by the
VHP, he said if the legal procedures were violated in the grant of land lease the state government had taken the right step, but if it was done merely as a revengeful act, it was a condemnable act. He said the
UPA-led Union Government had failed to act against the proliferating Muslim fundamentalist organisations and they were the breeding grounds of terrorism. The Hyderabad bomb blast was a result of such fundamentalist elements which failed to be checked, he
remarked. Togadia also opposed Muslim reservation and said this was inimical to the interests of Hindus. Earlier, Togadia addressed a rally at Nahan today. |
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Chandigarh-Mandi-Manali highway to be upgraded
Shimla, February 23 The Chief Minister was presiding over the review meeting of the Public Works Department (PWD) here today. He said in the first phase the NHAI would undertake construction work on the 118-km stretch from Garamaura to Ner Chowk. He said to speed up the land acquisition process and expedite the work, a dedicated revenue officer would be posted. A revenue officer would also be posted to gear up the land acquisition process for the Shimla-Kalka four-lane project. He said a tunnel would also be constructed near Swarghat which would reduce the distance by 35 km from Kiratpur to Ner Chowk and by 60 km up to Kullu. He added that the government would prepare a pre-feasibility report for the Chamunda-Holi tunnel which would decrease the distance of Chamba by approximately 200 km, he added. The Chief Minister said a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary comprising Principal Secretary, PWD and Forest, would look into all matters of land acquisition. He said roads were the lifelines of Himachal Pradesh. Virbhadra said about 380 road project cases were pending with the Forest Department for clearance. He said Rs 1,082.55 crore was being spent on the construction of roads and bridges in the state during current financial year.
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We are prepared to fight swine flu: Kaul
Shimla, February 23 Presiding over a meeting of Health officials held here today, to review the preparedness for tackling the flu, he said isolation wards had been set up at medical colleges and district hospitals. “At Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), 102 patients with symptoms of swine flu were reported in 2013, out of which 19 samples were found positive for H1N1,” he added. He said Tamiflu, the medicine used for the treatment of swine flu cases, had been supplied to the districts in adequate quantities three months back. Besides, guidelines of WHO for the treatment of such cases had also been circulated to all districts. He added that house-to-house search and detection of new cases were being done at the places from where the cases had been reported. |
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Anil Sharma’s swearing-in called off at last minute
Shimla, February 23 Though the official reason for the last-minute cancellation of the induction is being cited as the non-availability of the Governor, political circles are rife with speculation that it was owing to the pressure mounted by the dissident camp that the oath ceremony was put off. Though Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had taken the approval of the high command for inducting Anil Sharma, the dissident camp is keen that both the vacancies are filled
together. Virbhadra is likely to leave for Delhi tomorrow and discuss the issue with the high command. |
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Plantation must to curb soil erosion: Minister
Chamba, February 23 Bharmouri emphasised upon the need to plant suitable saplings of trees at vulnerable points of the fragile slopes so that the cultivable land, including apple orchards, could be stabilised and conserved. He listened to the grievances of people and directed officials to dispose of these on top priority. Later, Bharmouri inspected the plantation activities being carried out by the Forest Department near the Trilochan Mahadev temple in the area. |
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School alumni submit memo to DC
Mandi, February 23 Members of the association said the school building was the last remnant of the British rule and
hill architecture. It needed urgent attention as the building was in a shambles. The government must restore it and preserve it for posterity, they said. The members, including Dr Inderjit Parmar, Roop Upadhaya and others, urged the DC to take immediate steps for its restoration. |
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Cong refutes Anurag's
charge
Hamirpur, February 23 Talking to mediapersons here today, Sunil said, “This allegation is ridiculous and baseless. No Congress leader ever helped him in the elections.” He claimed, “Anurag is levelling the allegation to distract people’s attention from his failure to carry out development during his term after sensing defeat in the general election.” Sunil said, “The allegation does not hold ground as he had got the smallest lead from the Nadaun Assembly constituency, which was then represented by current state Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh.”
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Father, son die in car-truck collision
Palampur, February 23 Rajiv Kumar (44) of Bhatto village, near here, had gone to Pathankot railway station, along with his son, to pick up his parents. Satyam (12), Rajiv’s son, died on the spot, while he succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. Parents of the deceased were admitted to a private hospital at Pathankot where their condition was stated to be critical. BBL Butail, Speaker of HP Assembly, expressed shock over the tragedy. Rajiv, an engineering graduate, was a flower grower. He was recently adjudged the “best entrepreneur” by a leading media house. |
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Rs 3.09 crore spent on Chamba tourism
Chamba, February 23 Stating this here today, an official spokesperson said three tourism development schemes had so far been accomplished at different destinations, including the extension work of Manimahesh hotel at
Dalhousie. |
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Shimla, February 23
