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Bali's quitting row ebbs, for now
Rave party organisers close their show
Mandi bypoll: Cong, BJP step up campaign
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Deployment of 15 CRPF companies sought
Ambuja Cements to use pine needles as fuel
Sanawar schoolgirls excel in class XII CBSE results
24x7 electronic lounge inaugurated
P&G workers protest against job cuts
Rs 10.55 cr for streetlights in rural areas: Kaul
Governor mourns killing of Congress leaders
Four inclusive schools notified
Physical test for forest guards till June 3
Army jawan cremated with state honours
Man booked for pushing boy off house roof
Two minors booked for rape
Kidnapping case registered
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Bali's quitting row ebbs, for now
Speculative reports of Bali submitting his resignation to the high command appeared in the media after he returned his official vehicle, staff and other paraphernalia. Thereafter, he held a number of meetings with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and was seen moving along with him. However, whether the “irritants” that forced him to adopt such a confrontational approach had been ironed out, is still shrouded in mystery. Virbhadra Singh had termed the move a “political manoeuvre” to get portfolios changed, but simultaneously added that he was doing a good job as the Transport and Civil Supplies Minister. When contacted on telephone, Bali refused to comment whether or not his grievances had been fully addressed. However, he said he would wholeheartedly campaign for the victory of the party in the ensuing byelection to the Mandi Parliamentary seat. He said the Chief Minister had asked him to take charge of the Kullu and Manali Assembly constituencies and he could also campaign in the Banzar and Ani segments if required. Bali maintained that “change of portfolio” was not an issue and asserted that it would not be an issue in future. He said he would not speak on the issue till the byelection was over. The said there was no doubt about the victory of the Congress in the bypoll and the party would romp home with a huge margin. Sources close to Bali said he had not sent the resignation as such, rather sought the permission of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to quit the Cabinet citing undue interference in his departments that he found taxing for his health as the reason. He did so as he was a member of the AICC and he could not take any step without taking the high command into confidence. He was still moving without his official paraphernalia and was not attending office. Virbhadra Singh on the other hand maintained that he never interfered in the department of any minster and categorically said Bali had never brought any grievances to his notice. Political observers see the move as an attempt of Bali to project him as the next generation leader. Even before the Assembly poll, he had waged a proxy war with the Chief Minister by pushing his son Raghubir Bali in the arena against Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya during the election of the State Youth Congress. There are already three senior leaders Vidya Stokes, Kaul Singh and Anand Sharma in line and by taking on Virbhadra Singh, he would be seen as a prospective leader. |
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Rave party organisers close their show
Shai Ropa (Kullu), May 27 The promoters today quietly closed their “business” after a news report highlighted how the promoters were running their “full moon music party in guise of promoting tourism in the valley”. Ramesh Sharma, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Kullu, said the department had not given any licence to the squad. “We have imposed entertainment tax on the promoters and inspected the spot yesterday, but no liquor was stocked there,” he said. Even the district tourism development officer has not given a licence to the promoters. “The Shiva Squad is not registered in the district office. We are checking its records,” said Vinay Dhiman, district tourism officer. Members of the Seraj Tourism Development Association MS Rathaur, Raju Bharti and Parkash Thakur said they had lodged a complaint with the district administration seeking a ban on the “music festival-cum-rave and full moon party in the valley”. Sharab Negi, Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, said they had given permission for the music festival with riders as the promoters had cited a no-objection certificate from Banjar Congress MLA Karan Singh, Kandidar panchayat pradhan and the local administration. “However, no complaint against the promoters came to our notice, otherwise we would have taken action against them,” he said. “We were kept in the dark as only private land owners came to us seeking an NOC from the panchayat for the music festival,” said Kandidhar panchayat pradhan Gain Singh. “If we would have known about the actual intention of the promoters, we would never have given them the NOC,” he added. |
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Mandi bypoll: Cong, BJP step up campaign
Mandi, May 27 After the rally, BJP leaders, including Mandi party president Jawahar Thakur, former Transport Minister Mahender Thakur, Sarkaghat MLA Inder Singh Thakur and Jai Ram Thakur, addressed party workers and planned their election strategy. Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, Jai Ram Thakur alleged that the Congress government was talking about inquiries just to create an atmosphere of fear in the state. The UPA government was “steeped in corruption” and corruption would be a poll issue, he added. On the other hand, Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sohan Lal Thakur and district party president Puran Chand today hold a meeting of the party here and registered their presence as a team to counter the campaign of the BJP that was started by Jai Ram from Karsog yesterday. Addressing party workers, both Kaul Singh and Anil Sharma claimed that the party was united behind whosoever was the candidate. The BJP had been discredited by voters and had lost its hold in the state, they claimed. However, Congress workers expressed concern that instead of presenting a show of strength ahead of the Mandi bypoll, Transport Minister GS Bali tried to destabilise the five-month-old Virbhadra Singh government. |
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Deployment of 15 CRPF companies sought
Shimla, May 27 Director General of Police (DGP) B Kamal Kumar today held a meeting to review the preparedness for the bypoll. The meeting was attended by all the senior police functionaries besides SPs of six districts of Mandi, Kullu, Shimla, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Chamba. The Mandi Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh resigned from the Parliament after he won the Assembly poll from the Shimla (rural) Assembly Constituency. With 123 of the total 1,921 polling stations being declared hypersensitive, it was decided to seek deployment of 15 companies of the CRPF. Besides, 256 polling stations had been declared sensitive and the remaining 1,542 as ordinary. Counting of votes will take place of May 27. There are over 11.35 lakh voters in 17 Assembly segments spread in six districts. |
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Ambuja Cements to use pine needles as fuel
Solan, May 27 The initiative will help reduce green house emission and also loss to flora and fauna which has been occurring to forest areas due to large-scale forest fires. Prem Mahajan, DFO, Solan, Forest Division, said this division had 400 hectares of pine forests which lay in sensitive areas, including along the national highways, railways lines, state highways etc, and were highly susceptible to fires in this season. The workable area had been divided into segments, namely Jabli, Maltu, Dharampur, Oachghat, Shakatighat, Manjholi and Samlech. The pine needles thus collected would be used as fuel by Ambuja Cements. The ACF would also pay Rs 1.65 per kg to locals who would collect pine needles and the transportation cost would also be met by the foundation. Even locals who worked as mediators to facilitate the operations would be paid Rs 2,500 on a monthy basis, thus creating some income opportunities for them. With provision to engage local tractor owners for transportation, more work would be generated for the locals. A bailing machine has also been made available for the purpose for this division. Every year thousands of hectares of forests are turned into ashes because of forest fires during the summer season. These pine needles fall on the ground and form a thick layer to obstruct the growth of green grass. The removal of pine needles from the forest will help save the flora and fauna, encourage new growth fulfilling the grazing needs of cattle, prevent forest fires, create income generation activity for the local community and also enable the use of pine needles as a biomass. The Forest Department is playing a proactive role in helping the foundation to achieve its motive. It has also identified fire sensitive areas, besides sensitising and mobilising local rural communities to involve them in preventing forest fires. Local transporters too have been involved in its transportation work. |
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Sanawar schoolgirls excel in class XII CBSE results
Solan, May 27 The class XII results this year improved by 2.63 per cent from 79.08 per cent in 2012 to 81.71 per cent in 2013. As many as 12 students scored above 90 per cent in average. Out of a batch of 57 students, Mannat Tipnis ( humanities) stood first in her batch by scoring an al- time high of 98.5 per cent. She has also topped in the district. The overall result was 100 per cent with no failure according to a press statement issued by the school here today. Topper gets 98.5%
Mannat Tipnis, who was overwhelmed with the result, said she attributed this to her hard work and the support of her teachers who were always there to guide her and clear her doubts. She said she had expected to score around 95 per cent, but the score of 98.5 per cent was a bonanza. Interestingly, she relied purely on self-study and did not attend any coaching. Mannat had been investing seven to eight hours for studying and she believes hard work and determination can help achieve one’s aim. She plans to join Delhi’s top college St Stephen’s and will take up history honours. This can facilitate her to go abroad for the postgraduation. With a definite aim to enter the Indian Foreign Services, Mannat is optimistic of cracking this prestigious examination by hard work and dedication. Praveen Vasisht, Headmaster, Lawrence School, Sanawar, while congratulating Mannat said she had done the school proud and her success would encourage juniors to emulate. |
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24x7 electronic lounge inaugurated
Shimla, May 27 The lounge provides customers the flexibility to transact and interact with the bank at a time of their convenience. It is equipped with self-service automated devices and kiosks to offer services like real-time cash deposits, withdrawals, fund transfers, fixed deposits, cheque deposits, bank statement generation and Internet banking access, among others. Customers will also have access to a 24-hour video conferencing facility with customer-care personnel as well as to a customer-care hotline number. Roy said it was a laudable initiative by the ICICI Bank and the electronic lounge would not only benefit local residents, but also tourists visiting Shimla. Vikas Jain, Zonal Head of the bank, said the bank always made an innovative use of technology to make banking convenient to customers. The electronic lounge was an important initiative in this direction and in accordance with the "Khayaal Aapka" philosophy. The bank has 3,100 branches and extension counters, along with 10,481 ATMs, spread across the country. |
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Saleem enthrals crowds on first day of Kangra summer festival
Dharamsala, May 27 Starting the programme with hits like “Ahun ahun...” from the movie "Love Aaj Kal", “Bari barsi”, “Kade taan has bol...”, “Maa Da Ladla...” and “Damadam mast kalandar...” Master Saleem went on to sing over a dozen popular numbers. However, it was the “Damadam mast kalandar” which set the audience dancing. The other star attraction on the night was Anuj Sharma of Indian Idol fame, a Himachali boy who enthralled the audience starting with traditional Pahari song “Maye ni meriye...”. Other numbers that won acclaim were Bollywood hits “Tere nena bade dagabaz...” and “Tere mast mast do nain...”. Earlier, Agriculture Minister Sujan Singh Pathania inaugurated the festival by lighting the lamp. He also released a souvenir and visited the exhibitions put up by different departments. The festival opened with a Himachali programme. Attired in traditional costumes, folk artistes from across the state also presented colourful dances. The second day of the festival is totally dedicated to Himachali artistes. The main attraction of the second cultural night are "Nati King" Thakur Dass Rathi and Geeta Bhardwaj. A troupe of the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, will present traditional folk dances of various Indian states. Besides, cultural troupes from all the 12 districts will also perform. Bollywood playback singer Mamta Sharma will be the main attraction on the third and concluding night. Pahari singer Kuldeep Sharma will also perform on the concluding night. |
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Anganwari workers hold demonstration
Shimla, May 27 They demanded that they should be given pay scales at par with Punjab. "In Punjab, an anganwari worker gets Rs 5,000 and a helper Rs 2,500, while here in HP we are given Rs 3,300 and Rs 1,700 respectively," said Indira Thakur, state president of the union. She accused the successive Congress and BJP regimes of doing injustice to the 38,000 female anganwari workers and helpers. The protesting women said it was a deliberate attempt of the government to not regularise their services so that they were denied the benefits that a government employee got. They said despite the anganwari workers and helpers rendering services under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), they were not being paid anything extra even though the Centre had released Rs 6 crore to the state government. They also opposed the proposal to hand over 10 per cent of the anganwaris to NGOs. They submitted a demands charter to the Secretary, Women and Child Development. "In case our demands are not accepted, we will go on an indefinite strike," they warned. All anganwari workers and helpers in the state observed complete strike today. |
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P&G workers protest against job cuts
Kala Amb, May 27 Sharing their charter of demands, which was handed over to the P&G management, with the media, leaders of the JHS Svendgaard and Procter and Gamble Limited Karamchari Sangh, Ramesh Sharma, Sandeep singh and Pawan Kumar said they had received a notice from the company to terminate the agreement for the manufacturing facility at Kala Amb and consequently most of the labourer had been asked to leave. “Through this peaceful protest, we urge the P&G to safeguard our future by accepting our demands, which include that it should give us direct employment, or any of its associate companies or any other person should take over the JHS Svendgaard plant at Kala Amb to ensure continuity of our contract on the present terms so that our employment is safeguarded,” they said. The employees said they would be forced to continue their peaceful protest at all the P&G offices till they get justice and assurance about their future. However, trouble arose when the MNC failed to renew their contract with the Kala Amb-based JHS Svendgaard. Since the unit was undertaking contract manufacturing only for the P&G, it has been left with no work, thus rendering about 400 workers jobless. |
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Rs 10.55 cr for streetlights in rural areas: Kaul
Hamirpur, May 27 Kaul Singh said this while addressing a gathering while presiding over a function organised by the Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Organisation at Bijhari yesterday. He said, “The state government has launched several schemes to benefit the poor and backward sections of society and the common man needing development is the focus of our policies. For this the government has made the Congress manifesto as the policy guiding document”. The minister said the state government would make every effort to provide better health facilities at the doorstep of every citizen and cheap medicines would be provided through health centres. He said medical facilities at Tanda medical college would be improved. Kaul Singh said, “The Congress has played a key role in the development of the region and many development works were completed during the Congress governments in the state. Chief Parliamentary Secretary ID Lakhanpal was also present on the occasion. |
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Governor mourns killing of Congress leaders
Shimla, May 27 She prayed to the Almighty to give peace to the departed souls and strength to the bereaved family members to bear the irreparable loss. She also wished speedy recovery for former Union Minister VC Shukla and other leaders who were seriously injured in the attack. Urmila Singh also expressed grief over the death of the three jawans from the state Ashwani Kumar Banyal, Kamaljeet and Ajit Singh of Rashtriya Rifles who were killed in an encounter with militants at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. She conveyed her sympathies with the bereaved families. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh also condoled the families of the jawans and said their supreme sacrifice for the nation would always be remembered. In his message, the Chief Minister said the valour shown by the jawans, who died fighting militants, had not only brought glory to the state, but also to the nation. He said Himachal Pradesh was known as "Veer Bhoomi" and the government recognised the contribution of these martyrs. “We hold our valiant soldiers in high esteem,” he said. |
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Four inclusive schools notified
Shimla, May 27 In the second phase, eight more senior secondary schools would be notified. The government had also proposed to build a 100-bedded hostel in Portmore school, he said. Roy also felicitated the teachers and physically challenged students on
the occasion. Principal Secretary (Welfare) PC Dhiman said the government had provided 3 per cent reservation to persons with disability in educational institutions. The festival was inaugurated by Director of Public Relations Rajinder Singh. Ajai Srivastava, chairman, Umang Foundation, which organised the event, said 19 films were screened during the festival. |
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Physical test for forest guards till June 3
Chamba, May 27 Reddy said: “So far we have put 4,245 candidates to test out of the 7,479 candidates who have applied for the 25 posts of forest guard on contract basis in Chamba district.” The process will continue till June 3 and no candidate will be given any opportunity thereafter.
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Army jawan cremated with state honours
Ajit had lost his life in a militant attack on Friday during a search operation at Taral (Pulwama) centre in south Kashmir. His body was brought wrapped in the Tricolour to the native village on Sunday morning by Army personnel. Ajit was recruited in 11 J&K Rifles in 2002 as sepoy and was now posted at 3 RR unit in Srinagar. His younger brother Jagat Singh lit the pyre. Local MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Neeraj Bharti and district administration officials paid floral tributes to the martyr on behalf of the state government. Army contingents saluted the brave jawan, reversed the arms and fired shots in the air. Ajit is survived by his wife and two children.
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Man booked for pushing boy off house roof
Chamba, May 27 The incident reportedly took place yesterday when the boy was playing on the roof of his house. Bhagi Ram of a nearby area came and started quarrelling with him. He then beat the boy and threw him off the roof. Meanwhile, Dakho, mother of the boy, lodged a complaint at Tissa police station. Further investigations were on in the case.
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Two minors booked for rape
Hamirpur, May 27 The girl was spotted by her mother lying unconscious near the ravine. The police has summoned a boy for interrogation and is on the lookout for his accomplice.
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Kidnapping case registered
Nurpur, May 27 DSP Rajiv Atre said Raj went missing while returning home from his furniture shop at Sadwan. His family tried to contact him on the mobile after waiting for him in the night, but it was switched off. They lodged a missing report with the police that took the assistance of a dog squad to search him. Raj’s family members found his lunch box and mobile phone on the roadside on the Simbli-Ondh link road. They suspected his abduction.
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Shimla, May 27
Nurpur May 27