P R A D E S H
Saturday, August 7, 1999
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H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
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Saturday, August 7, 1999 |
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MiG 29 crashes near Naina Devi SHIMLA, Aug 6 — A MiG-29 fighter plane of Indian Air Force crashed at Malan-Panjwar Dhar in the Naina Devi area of Bilaspur district of Himachal 160 km from here this evening, official sources here said. According to reports reaching here the plane hit trees and dashed to the ground after catching fire. Probe ordered into 5-yr-old lathi charge SHIMLA, Aug 6 — In an apparent bid to woo a large number of retired soldiers on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-HVC combine government today ordered a judicial inquiry into a nearly five-year old incident of police lathi-charge and tear-gassing on agitating truck operators. |
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HP JD unit aligns with Deve Gowda faction SHIMLA, Aug 6 — The state unit of the Janata Dal has decided to align with the Deve Gowda faction of the party. The state executive of the party which met here yesterday, appreciated the contribution of Mr H.D. Deve Gowda in building the party and the policies and programmes initiated by him during his term as Prime Minister. The members called upon the splinter groups of the Janata Dal to reunite at the earliest.
HC
sets aside conviction of 2 HP
Govt violating poll code, says Kaul Singh "Villagers
fear ultras’ attack" DGP’s
visit shown on cable TV Shanta's
denial |
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MiG 29 crashes near Naina Devi SHIMLA, Aug 6 (PTI) — A MiG-29 fighter plane of Indian Air Force crashed at Malan-Panjwar Dhar in the Naina Devi area of Bilaspur district of Himachal 160 km from here this evening, official sources here said. According to reports reaching here the plane hit trees and dashed to the ground after catching fire. The plane broke into
pieces which were found scattered in 2 km area,
eye-witnesses from surrounding villages informed the
police. The I-G Police, Mr N.C. Joshi told PTI that the
entire area had been cordoned off and details about the
casualties were awaited. He said bodies of the victims
had also been dismembered and it was not possible to
identify them. The number of occupants of the plane was
yet to be known. |
Dhumal govt bid to woo veterans SHIMLA, Aug 6 — In an apparent bid to woo a large number of retired soldiers on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-HVC combine government today ordered a judicial inquiry into a nearly five-year old incident of police lathi-charge and tear-gassing on agitating truck operators of the Ex-Servicemen Union at Barmana in the Bilaspur district. The decision to order a judicial probe into the incident was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet which was presided by the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, here. The incident took place on November 15,1994 during the Congress regime when the truck operators allegedly turned violent and blocked the highway. About 12 of them were hurt and 33 were arrested during the police action. The Barmana area falls in the Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency from where Mr Suresh Chandel, state BJP Chief, is the candidate for Lok Sabha. Only a few days ago, the state government had decided to order a judicial inquiry into the recruitments for government jobs allegedly on the basis of orders issued on "chits" during the previous Congress regime. Briefing newspersons about the Cabinet decisions, Mr A.K. Goswami, Chief Secretary, said the terms of reference of the inquiry would be decided shortly. He said the Cabinet approved creation of 300 posts of special police officer (SPO) for combating terrorism in Chamba and the tribal areas of Pangi and Lahaul-Spiti bordering Jammu and Kashmir. He said first preference would be given to ex-servicemen in recruitment of SPOs. They would be paid a daily wage of Rs 51 and an additional 25 per cent tribal allowance. Mr Goswami said the Cabinet approved the draft Bill for creation of an authority for management and development of bus stands in the state. The Bill would be introduced in the forthcoming session of the Assembly. Another draft Bill for removing the land ceiling on projects related to hydroelectric generation, tourism and industry was also approved. The Cabinet decided to permit the private hydroelectric construction companies to mortgage the leased land for raising loans for the project. It was decided to abolish the state cadre for the class IV employees and bring them under the respective district cadres. It was also decided to increase the monthly honorarium of the nursery trained teachers to Rs 2500 from the existing Rs 1500 with effect from September 5. They would be paid the remuneration for the full year as against 10 months now. The Cabinet also relaxed the rules for providing government jobs to widows of five soldiers who laid their lives in Kargil. Three of them, Mrs Sudershan Devi (Kangra), Mrs Kanta Devi and Mrs Veena Devi would be appointed as vidaya upasak, while Mrs Dhani Devi and Mrs Nirmala Devi would be appointed as a language teacher and class IV employee, respectively. The Chief Secretary said the Cabinet decided to allow payment of lump sum passenger tax for buses with a seating capacity of more than 30 passengers. He said a separate monitoring cell had been created in the Chief Minister’s office to see that the next of the kin of the soldiers killed in Kargil were taken proper care of. Mr Mohan Chauhan, Additional Secretary, who has been made in charge of the cell, has been assigned the job of preparing packages for the bereaved families. Rules were also approved
for utilisation of nearly Rs 4 crore which have so far
been collected under the Chief Minister’s Sainik
Welfare Fund. |
Demand to end misuse of
Nainadevi shrine BILASPUR, Aug 6 — President All-Party District Citizens Rights Protection Committee Hari-Krishan has demanded effective steps to prevent exploitation of the Naina Devi shrine by non-Himachalis who collect money from devotees in the name of "free langars" during fairs at the shrine and pocket most of this amount. He also sought steps against these who visit the shrine during fairs and indulge in illegal activities under the garb of "seva samitis" and "Seva dals". Mr Hari Krishan told reporters here today that free "langars" during Naina Devi fairs by out-siders from state should be banned to stop devotees from giving donations to such persons who pocket it. Langars, he said, should be organised by the Naina Devi Temple Trust only and all donations for langar’s should be accepted by the trust under receipt. Some politcial leaders are also said to be involved in this "scandal" he added. He demanded that volunteers of so called seva samitis and Seva Dals during fairs from out-side state should also not be allowed to operate as some of them create problems for devotees. He also demanded proper
check on a few policemen who harassed vehicle owners and
extorted money under different excuses. |
HP JD unit aligns with Deve
Gowda faction SHIMLA, Aug 6 — The state unit of the Janata Dal has decided to align with the Deve Gowda faction of the party. The state executive of the party which met here yesterday, appreciated the contribution of Mr H.D. Deve Gowda in building the party and the policies and programmes initiated by him during his term as Prime Minister. The members called upon the splinter groups of the Janata Dal to reunite at the earliest. It decided to contest three out of the total four seats in the state in the ensuing Lok Sabha poll. However, it kept the option of entering into seat adjustment with like-minded secular parties open. The party demanded a White paper on the Kargil intrusion to know the lapses due to which more than 500 jawans had to sacrifice their lives. The inquiry committee appointed by the government was a mere eye wash to cover up its lapses, it alleged. It also expressed shock
over the Gaisal rail accident and said that the
resignation of Mr Nitish Kumar from the caretaker
government was meaningless. |
Bali flays govt on Apollo
Hospital DHARAMSALA, Aug 6 — The general secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee and a sitting MLA, Mr G.S. Bali, here today said the proposed Apollo hospital at Holta near Palampur had failed to come up as it had become the victim of Dhumal-Shanta feud. Addressing a press conference, he said the hospital and medical college would have provided specialised medical services to the people of the area, had it not been for the infighting amongst the top BJP leadership in the state. "It is surprising that the government had deputed Mr Shanta Kumar to hold talks, with the Vivekananda Trust he stated. Mr Bali demanded that the government should make its stand clear on the issue of the hospital and should make public the outcome of the talks held with the trust so far. He clarified that contrary to the impression being given out, the Congress government during its regime had given land to the trust, but the donors who had promised to give money had later on backed out. He said the BJP should not merely use the Apollo Hospital issue at the time of the elections, but should ensure that the hospital comes up soon. Mr Bali alleged that due to the delay in the implementation of the fixed taxation policy on private buses, the state exchequer was facing a loss of Rs 25 crore annually." If the government did not wish to implement the policy, then why was it framed in the first place," he quipped. The Congress leader also took strong exception to the provision in the new transport policy that the government could consider giving the long inter-state routes to the private sector. He said these were the most profitable routes for the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation. He remarked that if at all the government had decided to go ahead with its decision, then the permits for these should be given to cooperatives and Himachalis. Mr Bali expressed
concern at the ecological degradation due to unscientific
and indiscriminate mining in the Khaniyara area. He
alleged that due to political patronage a mafia was
operating there and the police and district
administration had become mute spectators, as hundreds of
slate trucks were being sent out everyday. |
HC sets aside conviction of
2 SHIMLA, Aug 6 — A Division Bench of the Himachal Pradesh High Court today set aside the judgement of Sessions Judge, Chamba, convicting Kewal Kumar and Vyas Dev for the murder of Puran Chand, which took place in Bagdhar village in July 1997. It was alleged by the prosecution that the deceased was murdered by the accused following a quarrel over refusal to give passage to the truck of Kewal Kumar. Counsel for the two accused pointed out that some of the injuries on the persons of the deceased were post-mortem in nature and such there was no opportunity of his making a dying declaration. Besides, as per the medical report the deceased had died due to rupturing of spleen but there was no corresponding injury on the abdomen. Also the report of the
Forensic Science laboratory was not admissible as it had
not been issued by competent official as required under
the Section 293 of the Cr P.C. Upholding the contentions
the court allowed the appeal of the accused who were
serving life term in jail and ordered their release
forthwith. |
HP Govt violating poll
code, says Kaul Singh KULU, Aug 6 — The Himachal Pradesh Government is violating the model code of conduct. Use of government vehicles, including that of ministers, for public meetings and campaigning, transfer of officials and use of administrative machinery are a few examples of the violations. This was stated by Mr Kaul Singh Thakur, former Himachal Vidhan Sabha Speaker, and the Congress nominee for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat at Bhuntar yesterday. He said the BJP government had proved to be a complete failure on all fronts in the state. Developmental works had come to a standstill and the financial position of the state had reached the stage of bankruptcy. The credibility of the Dhumal government could well be assessed from its inability to procure loans as no financial institution was ready to fund the government. He demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged bungling of government funds during the past one year in the so-called "gole tender" system. The Congress leader said the Shukla committee report was a bundle of lies and demanded that a sitting judge of the high court should be appointed to find out the facts of the "employment on chits" allegations. He pointed out that more than 4000 JBT teachers, 4500 middle, high and senior secondary teachers’ posts were lying vacant in the state. Earlier, he inaugurated
a state-level camp of the Congress Seva Dal at Sharabai,
about 15 km from here. |
"Villagers fear ultras’
attack" CHAMBA, Aug 6 — Mr Shanta Kumar, a former Chief Minister and BJP leader, has said now that the Kargil conflict is over, Pakistan is trying to spread terrorism in the Kashmir valley. As a sequel to this, there are apprehensions in the minds of the villagers residing in Chamba district bordering Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir that the ultras may strike in their villages. Speaking to newspersons at the local Circuit House today, Mr Shanta Kumar urged the state administration to strengthen the security network and not allow anyone to move on the high altitude sensitive points on the borders despite political pressure. Reiterating his demand, Mr Shanta Kumar requested the Centre to accord sanction to Himachal Pradesh to raise one more Indian Reserve Battalion for security purpose on the border areas. Mr Shanta Kumar underlined the need to strengthen the village defence committees (VDCs) in the Salooni and Tissa areas of the district and impart them training in sophisticated arms. He also urged air reconnaissance once in a fortnight in the border area stretching for about 216 km. Mr Shanta Kumar also
questioned Mr Sat Mahajan, a Congress candidate that why
he was not able to get the Chamera Project started and
Thein Dam compensation released in his tenure of 19
months. |
DGP’s visit shown on
cable TV CHAMBA, Aug 6 — A video cassette made during the visit of Himachal’s Director-General of Police (DGP) T.R. Mahajan and Secretary (Home) Ajay Prasad Accompanied by other civil and police officers to sensitive border areas of the tribal Pangi valley in the district adjoining Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir was shown on a private local cable channel yesterday for about one and a half hour has become a talk of the town. Questions are being asked whether it is permitted by the state government or the Central government to show these types of visits on the cable channel. The team toured the
sensitive valley on August 4 by a helicopter with a view
to take stock of the present situation from the security
point of view. The entire aerial view of the routes and
passes of the valley and the activities of the team were
recorded on video. |
Shanta's denial CHAMBA, Aug 6 — Shanta Kumar, a former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and Member of Parliament, has contradicted a news item which appeared in a section of the Press that he had met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and had demanded that the Shimla Lok Sabha seat should be given to a BJP candidate. He said there was no truth in the news item. He clarified the Lok Sabha elections on four seats in Himachal Pradesh would be contested jointly by the BJP and the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) and added that so far as the Shimla Lok Sabha seat was concerned, it would be decided by the state BJP election committee in consonance with the HVC. He also clarified that
he had met Mr Vajpayee in some other connection. |
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