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assembly in session
Clean drinking water a priority: Vidya Stokes
Dharamsala Cong infighting comes to the fore
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interim Union Budget
BJP legislature party to meet tomorrow
Shivratri programme venue shifting sparks row
Victims demand fire station at Kotkhai
Introduce online monitoring of highly polluting industries: Central board
Erratic power supply irks residents
Centre grants Rs 16 crore for sports projects
Docs seek police post at Regional Hospital
Medics seek new pay scales
Primary teachers demand hike in pay scale
Mishap victim succumbs to injuries
4 held guilty in assault case
Ex-MLA booked for ‘intimidating cops’
1 held for using cement meant for govt supply
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In BJP’s absence, Budget session a sheer formality
Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 17 Whatever the cause, a clear effect is this: Even the ruling party is making light of the session in the absence of grilling from the Opposition. While CM Virbhadra Singh, who holds the Finance portfolio, skipped the session to attend the Congress Central Election Committee meeting in Delhi today, three other ministers too did not attend it. Those conspicuous by their absence included Health and Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, Transport Minister GS Bali and Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma. Speaker BBL Butail was also not present in the House today. Deputy Speaker Jagat Singh Negi conducted the House, which met at 2 pm. With some Congress legislators not present in the House, the Question Hour was a 20-minute affair. While Vidya Stokes replied to questions pertaining to the Health Department, Mukesh Agnihotri replied to queries about the Urban Development Department. The Himachal Pradesh Tax on Luxuries (in Hotels and Lodging Houses) Amendment Bill 2014 was passed by the House today without any discussion on the issue. The session saw a departure from the practice of the Opposition bringing in cut-motions to scrutinise functioning of various departments, with the BJP members not attending the House. A debate on the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department was held as the lone Himachal Lokhit Party MLA Maheshwar Singh initiated a discussion on legislators' priority schemes. Besides, Asha Kumari and Kuldeep Kumari participated in the debate. When the debate on Forest and Wildlife was initiated, the minister concerned Thakur Singh Bharmouri was not present in the House. "I can start only if the minister who is engrossed somewhere could be present here," remarked Maheshwar. IPH Minister Vidya Stokes had to ask her ministerial colleagues not to disturb her by talking while she was replying to queries during the Question Hour. Later, responding to issues raised by members about the IPH Department, she had to urge her own party members to listen and not talk as they were engaged in conversation. The 14-day Budget session, which will conclude on February 21, has been tumultuous from Day One, when the BJP MLAs staged a walkout while the Governor was addressing the Assembly. The BJP later "boycotted" the Budget presented on February 7. The party did not participate in the debate on the Budget proposals for 2014-15. The Budget will be passed on February 19.
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Clean drinking water a priority: Vidya Stokes
Shimla, February 17 She was responding to a query on priority of MLAs in the IPH Department in the Assembly today. “The election manifesto of the Congress has been adopted as a policy document. Our government is committed to ensuring proper drinking water and irrigation facility to people,” she told the members. Stokes said with 90 per cent of the state’s population dependent on agriculture and horticulture, providing irrigation facility to all would remain the topmost priority of the Congress regime. “We want the economic position of the farmers to be strengthened by reducing their dependence on rain for water,” she said. She stated that various small and medium irrigation schemes were being implemented through Nabard funding and the Rs 387.22-crore Shah Nehar and Siddhata projects. “Of the total of 53,604 habitations, 29,911 have been provided piped water and we have set a target to cover another 2,500 habitations during 2014-15,” she said. She said to augment water supply, a total of 30,276 hand pumps had been installed and more would be installed in the water-scarce drought-hit areas. She added that there was a budget of Rs 10.47 crore for urban water supply schemes. “The need of the hour is to conserve water through rainwater harvesting,” she said. She said flood protection measures were being taken to protect 2.31 lakh hectares of land identified as flood-prone. She added that a budgetary provision of Rs 51.66 crore had been made under which 500 hectares land would be protected. Participating in the debate, Himachal Lokhit Party president Maheshwar Singh pointed out that only 13.33 per cent of the budget was available for development works as the major chunk of 66.86 per cent was being spent on salaries. He sought expediting of the work on channelisation of the Beas and flood protection measures from Palchang to Larji for which a detailed project report was almost ready. He sought clarification on the duty of Jal Rakshaks being appointed by the IPH Department. Asha Kumari raised the issue of hotels getting ample water supply despite scarcity in the tourist destinations of Dalhousie, Manali, Kasauli and Shimla. “Why should hotels get unlimited water at the cost of the common man who
faces shortage? There is need to streamline this,” she said. She sought a better back-up system and condensed training courses for IPH staff to be able to operate pumps. Kuldeep Kumar sought to know the fate of the Integrated Water Harvesting schemes for which foundation stones had been laid during the BJP regime. He called for a fresh ground water survey towards new proposals. |
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Dharamsala Cong infighting comes to the fore
Dharamsala, February 17 The leader is a close aide of Minister for Housing and Urban Development Sudhir Sharma. Katoch was recently appointed as the secretary of the HPCC. Besides Katoch, another Congress leader from Dharamsala, Manoj Gaddi, who is close to Chandresh Kumari, was also appointed as the secretary in the recently released list. Puneet Malhi, former general secretary of the Youth Congress, said state party president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu had said no black sheep would be accommodated in the Congress. Manoj Gaddi had openly acted as a dissident during the last Assembly elections and opposed Sudhir Sharma. He was ousted from the party for his dissident activities. However, even before Gaddi could be inducted back into the Congress, he had been appointed as the secretary of the party, Malhi said. He said in case the appointment of Katoch and Gaddi was not revoked by the party, Congress workers from Dharamsala would stage a dharna in Shimla. Malhi said the CD in which Chandresh was allegedly urging people to vote against Sudhir Sharma during the Assembly elections was released in the media. "We shall send a copy of the said CD to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi," he said. He said in case such leaders were appointed in the HPCC, it would have a bad impact on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The tussle between Chandresh and Sudhir Sharma has been going on since the time the latter was allotted a party ticket from Dharamsala in the last Assembly elections. Chandresh wanted the party ticket from Dharamsala for her son Katoch. She hails from a royal family of Kangra and has represented the Dharamsala Assembly as an MLA. However, during the last parliamentary elections, the Congress fielded her from Jodhpur, which is her paternal area. She won from Jodhpur and now is the Union Minister for Culture. Chandresh is previewed as a threat by supporters of Virbhadra Singh. In the recent past, she has increased her political activities in Kangra district. She, along with President Pranab Mukherjee, came for the 2nd annual convocation of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh. Chandresh laid the foundation of a science museum at Palampur Agriculture University yesterday. Though the Chief Minister was also scheduled to attend the function, he failed to reach Palampur. Sources said Chandresh had thrown her hat in the race for the Congress ticket from the Kangra parliamentary constituency. The increased activities of Chandresh in Kangra might be one of the reasons for her opposition by Congress leaders from the CM’s camp. |
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One-rank, one-pension hailed
Bhanu P Lohumi Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 17 He said Himachal had a glorious history of its brave soldiers making sacrifices for the country and said Rs 500 crore would be transferred in 2014-15 for implementation of the one-rank one-pension policy by the Centre. Hailing the Interim Budget, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also thanked the UPA government for accepting the long-pending demand of ex-servicemen for granting them pension on the principle of one-rank, one-pension. Sukhu thanked the Congress leadership for providing additional Central assistance of Rs 1,200 crore to the north-eastern states, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and special financial grants to the gallantry/distinguished services award winners and martyrs/injured soldiers in the state. The Leader of the Opposition in Himachal Assembly, PK Dhumal, today welcomed "one rank, one pension” to ex-servicemen. He said the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had already made this announcement. He claimed that the decision would be implemented by the NDA government after the polls. “The matter has been hanging fire for the past 10 years. The UPA Government has announced it on the eve of Lok Sabha polls to gain popularity,” he said, adding that no relief had been given to the poor man and LPG prices had not been reduced. Dhumal said no relief had been given to Income Tax payers. The state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti said it seemed the UPA Government had taken a cue from Modi’s vision, saying he had announced “one rank, one pension” at Rewari rally. “We welcome the move as we have been pleading for this since 1989-90,” he added. "It is high time the Congress realises it needs to slash the prices of commodities of daily needs rather than luxury items like car and scooters," he said. Terming the acceptance of the long-pending ex-servicemen demand of “one-rank, one-pension” as politically motivated, Lt General (retd) Hardev Singh Lidder said the move would benefit a large chunk of ex-servicemen, especially the ones who retired long back and can now live with dignity. “Our right has been given to us, but it is too late as the Supreme Court had already directed the government on the issue last year," said president of All India Defence Personnel Welfare Association Col Shakti Chand. We had been deprived of our rights and have been suffering for the past many years, running from pillar to post for our demand, courtesy the Finance and Defence Minister, he added. “In view of the price rise, we were expecting revision in tax rates. The finance commission should take care of the employees. However, it was an interim budget and we have our eyes on the main Budget,” said Himachal Pradesh University employee leader Chaudhary Waryam Singh. Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur welcomed the one-rank, one-pension announcement in the Interim Union Budget today.
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State reels under cold wave
Shimla, February 17 The Hindustan-Tibet national highway was opened via Narkanda, but vehicular traffic was not restored due to slippery road conditions and Chopal and Nerwa areas of Shimla remained cut off for the fourth day. The Theog-Rohroo road was opened for light vehicles after clearing the snow at Khara-Patthar, said, Deputy Commissioner Dinesh Malhotra. The Rampur and Reckong Peo-bound vehicles were being diverted via Dhami-Basantpur-Kingal highway, but the national highway was closed beyond Reckong Peo. Efforts were afoot to open the road up to Pooh by tomorrow, said Capt
JM Pathania, Deputy Commissioner. The power supply has been restored up to Spillo while it was partially restored in Sangla. Vehicular traffic was badly hit in the mid and higher hills as thick ground frost occurred and slippery road conditions made driving risky. Water pipes were frozen at several places in Shimla and its upper region. The minimum temperature plunged to -17°C and -16°C at Keylong and Bharmaur in the tribal belt, while Kalpa and Manali shivered under biting cold-wave conditions with the mercury dipping to -7°C and -6.6°C, five degrees below normal. The high-altitude tribal areas groaned under the piercing cold wave with the mercury staying between -20°C and -32°C. Shimla and Dalhousie shivered at 0.2°C each, followed by Bhuntar and Sundernagar 0.8°C, Hamirpur 1°C, Palampur 1.5°C, Kangra 1.6°C, Solan 1°C, Una 3.4°C, Dharamsala 3.8°C and Nahan 4.4°C. However, the maximum temperature recovered significantly and rose by four to five degrees. Una was the hottest with a high of 22.4°C, followed by Sundernagar 21.4°C, Solan 19.5°C, Bhunter 18.2°C, Solan 19.5°C, Nahan 16.3°C, Dharamsala 15.8°C, Shimla 13.9°C and Kalpa 1.4°C. Kumarsen received 3 cm snow, while Baijnath, Dharamsala and Jogindernagar recorded 12 mm, 9 mm and 8 mm rain, respectively. The local Met office has predicted dry weather in the region over the next four days. Weather clears,
mercury plummets
MANALI: Vehicular traffic was restored today after snow was cleared on the Manali-Kullu national highway and Manali-Naggar-Kullu roads. Most of the link roads leading to tourists places around Manali have been opened for vehicular traffic. A large number of tourists thronged Manali and its nearby areas. Meanwhile, the PWD pressed snow-clearing machines into service to clear the snow on the road leading to Vashisht village. Though the weather was clear throughout the day, icy winds swept the entire upper Manali areas. State highways opened
to traffic
CHAMBA: The state highways from Chamba to Langera and Chamba to Bairagarh in the district have been opened after clearing the snow. Sources said the restoration work on the Chamba-Nayagran state highway beyond Kharamukh was underway and the highway was expected to be opened for vehicular movement within a couple of days. Orchardists and farmers have expressed their cheerfulness over the recent snowfall. Apple growers DS Pathania of Kihar and Uttam Chand of Bharmour said the chilling period was beneficial for the apple crop. Moreover, the water level in the sub soil had also risen which would be beneficial for the peas crop. |
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AAP holds a ‘jharu’ rally at Dehra
Dharamsala, February 17 The procession started from the Bhubhnesh Dogra stadium and passed through the entire town. AAP leader Prem Sagar, who is a zila parishad member, said they would work against the dynastic rule prevailing in the Congress and the BJP. He said both the parties had been acting as an alternative of each other in the state, but none of them was caring about real problems of people. Unemployment was the biggest problem being faced by youth of Himachal. Semi-literate youth were moving out of state due to the lack of job opportunities, he said. Amit Sharma, another AAP leader, said they were organising the “jharu” rallies in all parts of the Kangra district. These rallies would culminate at the Martyrs Park in Dharamsala on February 21. AAP leaders claimed that their membership crossed one lakh in the state. A large number of ex-servicemen joined the party in Kangra district. |
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BJP legislature party to meet tomorrow
Shimla, February 17 Sources said the party would not attend the session till February 19 when the Budget would be passed. “It is at the meeting that we will take the final call on whether to attend the last two days of the session or not,” revealed a senior BJP MLA. He admitted that the opinion among BJP legislators on the continuous boycott was divided and a decision would be taken on February 19. The BJP filed yet another notice for the Breach of Privilege against Congress legislators before the Assembly Speaker. BJP chief whip Suresh Bhardwaj said the ministers in the Congress regime were misleading the House by giving wrong figures about the grant of land to private universities and about “Himachal on sale” allegations against the previous BJP regime. This is the fourth Breach of Privilege that has been filed during the ongoing Budget session. |
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Shivratri programme venue shifting sparks row
Mandi, February 17 The committee has decided to change the venue of the cultural nights, from Seri Manch, the choice over the past many years, to the Paddal ground. The Mandi Adhikar Manch was joined by the Mandi Beopar Mandal in opposing the shifting of the venue to the Paddal ground. There was a trade bandh in Mandi town on Saturday. Opposing the decision, the Mandi Adhikar Manch said cultural nights were being organised here for long. A majority of Mandi's population had voted in favour of continuing here in an opinion poll conducted recently, it stated. Convener of the manch Harminder Bittoo said, "Organising cultural nights at Seri Manch is an age-old tradition and has now become part of our cultural heritage." Justifying the switchover, chairman of the Shivratri Festival Committee Mandi DC Devesh Kumar said, "It was being observed for the last many years that a large crowd could not be accommodated at Seri Manch. Problems such as providing adequate facilities, maintaining law and order, putting safety measures in place and managing congestion were proving hurdles in holding cultural nights here." "In comparison, better infrastructure and facilities are available at the Paddal ground. Thus, a committee was constituted to examine all these aspects. On its recommendation, the venue is being shifted to the Paddal ground," he added. The Adhikar Manch office-bearers demanded that the decision be reversed by February 18. The DC said, "The decision has been taken by the general house of the festival committee. We have appealed to everybody to honour the committee's decision." |
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Victims demand fire station at Kotkhai
Shimla, February 17 More than 100 victims have been provided temporary shelters by villagers. But their plight is miserable, as they are forced to spend cold winter nights there. Other villagers are also extending help to them, but they feel the Rs 80,000 relief given to them by the government is insufficient to rebuild their homes. Prem Jushta, a villager who is helping the victims, said: “How can they construct their homes in Rs 80,000? The amount is too less. They have not been provided with any construction material and are forced to live at the mercy of the weather gods in more than 1 foot snow.” “Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is their only hope,” said RL Justa, member of the Shimla District Grievances Committee, who urged him to provide monetary help from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and help victims build new homes. Several homes and a 400-year-old building were gutted in the mishap on January 30. “The loss is double than that assessed (Rs 7-8 crore). Moreover, it is impossible to reconstruct the structure as skilled labourers are not available now,” he said, adding that the palatial fort-like structure was built by Sabla Wazir using deodar and chiselled stones, a rare specimen of hill architecture. |
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Delay in construction of cabins irks stamp vendors
Palampur, February 17 They said three years ago when the mini secretariat was commissioned, the state government had promised to construct sheds and cabins for them. Stamp vendors said they had already deposited their share of the construction cost for cabins with the government. But due to the lack of certain technical formalities, construction had been delayed. They said it had become difficult for them to work in the biting cold and heavy rain. Meanwhile, the SDM said the matter was under the consideration of the state government and the construction of cabins would be taken up soon. |
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Introduce online monitoring of highly polluting industries: Central board
Solan, February 17 These 17 categories include cement, paper and pulp, basic drugs and pharmaceuticals, dyes,
fertilisers, pesticides formulation, integrated iron and steel etc. Common effluent treatment plants, common hazardous waste and biomedical waste incinerators will be required to follow these directions as per the CPCB orders passed on February 5. Since the management of industrial units had been dithering over complying with laid environmental standards in the past, the central board has now demanded a bank guarantee of 25 per cent of the cost of online monitoring systems for ensuring timely installation of such systems. A report on the greenhouse gas emissions at source released by the Department of Environment has pointed out that cement plants produced 5,170.30 gigagrams of carbon dioxide which was over half of the state’s carbon dioxide. The energy usage by other categories, including industrial, commercial and institutional, added 3,183.27 gigagrams to the greenhouse gas emissions, thus necessitating the need to introduce stringent regulatory measures. It, however, remains to be seen how the online monitoring of pollution would check air and water pollution as not much has been achieved in checking pollution. The state board will also install the necessary software and hardware in their headquarters for centralised data collection, analysis and corrective action to ensure the regular monitoring of such units and submit an action taken report along with a time-bound action plan for each industry within 120 days. With the focus on installing continuous effluent and emission monitoring devices, all such erring industrial units which operate their pollution mitigation devices only for few hours will be checked. The board officials had a tough time in checking such erring units due to the scant field staff and presence of hundreds of such units. The CPCB has introduced self-monitoring and compliance as this would not only discipline the industries, but also ensure that they transmit the data on their own, both to the state and the central board. As per these directions, a copy of which was available with The Tribune, these industries have been directed to install online effluent quality monitoring system at the outlet of effluent treatment plants. |
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Erratic power supply irks residents
Sundernagar, February 17 Despite several complaints, the field staff has been of no help. A source said there were around 400 industrial consumers in the subdivision. Apart from this, there were more than 50 Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) schemes and several agricultural connections, which used electricity for lifting water from different sources, he added. Residents too are suffering due to acute power shortage. Those who go to work or school have to leave without having a bath. Students face a tough time as their studies get affected in the absence of power. As per information, no check has been conducted in the past to deal with the problem. However, the field staff maintained that they tried to deal with the problem but could not succeed, as most of the consumers and the staff working on IPH schemes use pumping machinery during peak hours and paid no heed to their requests. They added that the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board should stop industrial units from functioning during morning hours also. They said the units functioned during the morning hours due to which the residents suffered. GC Shandil, Executive Engineer, Electrical Division, Sundernagar, said he had asked the industrial units not to function during peak hours, adding that the field staff was also asked to strictly deal with defaulters. |
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Centre grants Rs 16 crore for sports projects
Bilaspur, February 17 He said the two projects would be implemented at the Luhnu Sports Complex here. He said the Sports and Youth Services Department had sent two proposals for the construction of a hockey astroturf and a synthetic athletics track worth Rs 8 crore each, for which the department had received the funds. |
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Docs seek police post at Regional Hospital
Chamba, February 17 This was stated by Dr Dilbag Singh, state vice-president of the association. A delegation of the association had also met the SP,
Chamba, and said the police post would also help doctors to work smoothly in the hospital.
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Shimla, February 17 In a letter to CM Virbhadra Singh, HPMOA general secretary JN Chauhan said medical officers working as chief medical officers (CMOs) or those who were on administrative posts should not be given extension. The association further requested the CM to grant four-tier pay scales to all medical officers. — TNS
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Primary teachers demand hike in pay scale
Chamba, February 17 They demanded that the posts of assistant block primary education officer should be created at the education block level and urged the government to complete the promotion process of primary teachers forthwith. |
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Mishap victim succumbs to injuries
Bilaspur, February 17 He was rushed to the Ghumarwin Civil Hospital and then to the PGI. The police had registered a case and were investigating. Biker Arun Kumar was also injuried in the accident. — OC
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4 held guilty in assault case
Bilaspur, February 17 The scuffle had happened when the two brothers objected to their forcibly trying to fix their tin-sheet “khokha” in front of their house and shop on September 15, 2009. The CJM bound the guilty Dharam Pal, Nirmala Devi, Shiv Chand and Meera Devi to maintain good conduct and keep peace for three years, along with a local surety. Assistant Public Prosecutor Champa Sureel said all of them were convicted and fined Rs 15,000 each (total Rs 60,000) to be paid as compensation to the complainants. Sudhir, a school lecturer, had lost his right eyesight as a result of the assault.
— OC
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Ex-MLA booked for ‘intimidating cops’
Dharamsala, February 17 They stopped a vehicle (PB-35Q-2406) and issued a challan. In the meantime, Pathania came to the spot and staged a dharna blocking traffic. It said he forcibly took away the vehicle registration certificate from the police and intimidated the officials. The police have registered a case under Sections 341, 143, 149, 186
and 504 of the IPC against Rakesh Pathania and his supporters. On being asked, Pathania said the police had fabricated a case against him. He said he was on his way to Sujanpur to attend Modi’s rally, when he saw the police stopping and challaning vehicles ferrying BJP workers at Kotla. Rakesh Pathania said he requested the police to stop harassing BJP workers proceeding for the rally. “I stayed at the spot for just a few minutes,” he said.
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1 held for using cement meant for govt supply
Nurpur, February 17 Bureau ASP Yog Raj Jaryal said their three-member team, led by Inspector Randhir Singh, raided a house under construction and seized these cement bags. The ASP said a case under Sections 403 and 411, IPC, and Section 13(2), Prevention of Corruption Act, had been registered against Karam Deen who had been using government supply cement in constructing the house. The accused had been arrested and would be produced in court tomorrow, he added.
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