P R A D E S H
Wednesday, August 25, 1999
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H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
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Wednesday, August 25, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Asha Kumari slams BJP
govt |
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Pathania challenges Sat
Mahajan Police lathicharges HPU students Inquiry
ordered into suicide case Better
facilities needed Vandalisation
over "Kohram" ridiculed CEO
for vigil in Chamba areas 13
families evacuated Breakthrough in Keshav Verma case |
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Asha Kumari slams BJP govt SHIMLA, Aug 24 — The general secretary of the PCC, Mrs Asha Kumari, has asked the Chief Minister, Mr P.K.Dhumal, and the HVC leader Mr Sukh Ram, to seek apology for having "misled" the public by accusing the previous Congress government of Mr Virbhadra Singh of having showered favours on a cement company by allowing "undue" concessions worth about Rs 5 crore. Mrs Asha Kumari, who is also a sitting MLA of the Congress,told mediapersons here today that the truth had come out in the light of the recent judgement of the high court justifying these concessions under the industrial policy of the state. She said both the BJP and the HVC had made the issue of these concessions their election plank against Congress in the last year’s elections. Mr Sukh Ram had all time been harping on the issue and demanding a CBI action against Mr Virbhadra Singh. Now in the light of the judgement, he should seek a public apology from Mr Virbhadra Singh,she demanded. She said the ruling BJP was shy of ordering a probe by a sitting judge of the high court into the large scale "irregularities" in appointments done during its 16 month rule. Mr Dhumal has been crying only about the "irregularities"pointed out by an official committee in various appointments during the regime of the Congress. She alleged that the Dhumal government was indulging in large scale appointments ignoring the rules and procedures. About 3,700 daily wagers have been appointed by the PWD Minister, Mr Mohinder Singh,in his constituency alone,she alleged. She alleged that kith and kin of BJP leaders have been appointed in Kangra Cooperative Bank ignoring the deserving candidates. Mrs Asha Kumari accused the BJP government of having got a large quantity of bitumen emulsion purchased through middlemen instead of procuring it directly from the manufacturers as was being done so far.She demanded resignation of the PWD Minister on the issue. She said the PCC has sent a legal notice to the Education Minister, Mr I.D.Dhiman, for having accused Mrs Sonia Gandhi of possessing black money. She alleged that the BJP-HVC combine government was violating the election code as its ministers were "misusing"their official position and using official vehicles for electioneering.She circulated copies of transfer orders of eight officials of the HPSEB who have been shifted on July 29,1999, in violation of the election code which became operative on July 11,she claimed. She claimed that a person close to a HVC leader has been appointed in the HPSEB although he did not eligible for the post. Mrs Asha Kumari said although Mr Dhumal and Mr Sukh Ram had been criticising Mr Virbhadra Singh of having hired a helicopter for the state government on "exorbitant"rate of Rs 90,000 per flying hour,but now the BJP government has agreed to pay Rs 1.10 lakh per flying hour for the same helicopter,she alleged. She accused Mr Dhumal of having failed to protect the interests of the state on the issue of allotment of construction of the Chamera stage II power project in Chamba district. She said the police has failed to take action against a minister who was named in the suicide note of a superintending engineer of the IPH Department. Mr Yogendera Chandra,
MLA,who was also present in the press conference,said
that the BJP and HVC should clarify as to whose candidate
was Mr Dhani Ram in the Shimla(reserved) Lok Sabha
constituency was.The situation has confused with leaders
of both parties claiming that Mr Dhani Ram belonged to
their party. |
Pathania challenges Sat Mahajan DHARAMSALA, Aug 24 — The BJP legislator from Nurpur, Mr Rakesh Pathania, today challenged Mr Sat Mahajan, for an open debate to compare the development works undertaken during his 14-month tenure as an MLA to the progress in Nurpur, during his 14-year ministership. Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Pathania, who is also the vice-chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, claimed that Mr Mahajan, will not be able to get a lead from his home constituency of Nurpur during the forthcoming elections, "I am willing to face any political consequence if the Congress manages to get a lead from the Nurpur Assembly segment," he said. Mr Pathania said that Mr Mahajan was indulging in petty politics and had even gone to the extent of blaming Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, for the death of the soldiers in Kargil, "After the 1971 war Mr Vajpayee went to the extent of calling Mrs Indira Gandhi, as Durga, but the Congressmen of today instead of giving credit to him are blaming him for the Kargil conflict," he regretted. Mr Pathania, claimed that the election to the Kangra Lok Sabha seat was a one-sided affair, as the people had seen for themselves that the BJP government had undertaken much more welfare schemes and development works in 14 months than the Congress could do in their long regime. Giving details, he said that the Rs 100 crore CRPF group centre will be set up at Nurpur, which will help in giving a big boost to the local economy. A number of welfare schemes, including water supply schemes, construction of road, upgradation of schools, an ITI at Rohan and a forest depot at Nurpur, have been undertaken by the BJP government. Mr Pathania refuted charges that the BJP was faction-ridden, and said that there was no separate Dhumal or Shanta group and all were working unitedly for the victory of Mr Shanta Kumar. "No doubt Mr Dhumal remains the undisputed leader of the BJP in Himachal, but at the same time Mr Shanta Kumar is a leader of national repute," said Mr Pathania. On the contrary the
Congress had played with the sentiments of their workers
in Nurpur as Mr Mahajan and Mr Kewal Singh have joined
hands, not bothering for the opinion of party workers. He
added that instead of gaining from it the move will
boomerang on the Congress Party. |
Police lathicharges HPU
students SHIMLA, Aug 24 — Many of the striking students of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) were injured as police resorted to unprovoked lathi charge here today. The students alleged that the policemen entered the library, beat them with lathis as they held a peaceful rally on the campus. Six activists of the SFI including their leader Kaushal Bhardwaj, were taken into custody by the police. The SFI has demanded their immediate release. The police has been accused of mishandling the situation here, which had started showing signs of improvement yesterday. The strike call of the SFI has paralysed classes in the university and various colleges for the past over one week. They are demanding elections for the Students’ Central Association (SCA). The ABVP and NSUI have so far not supported the strike. The attendance in the university was thin today and hardly any class functioned. The university campus has been turned into a virtual police cantonment. Several teachers have blamed the Vice-Chancellor, Prof S.K. Gupta, for the crisis as the issue of holding SCA elections, which was lying dormant for the past over three years, was reopened by him soon after taking over as the Vice-Chancellor. They said he had touched the issue in the meeting of the executive council last month and assured the elections would be held soon. In a meeting with the deans and representatives of student organisations, Professor Gupta had stated that the date for the elections would be announced before September 15. Then later he said the issue would be decided after the Lok Sabha elections. Several teachers and
students have criticised the Vice-Chancellor, saying he
had acted in haste and raked up the controversial issue
at a time when the atmosphere for holding these elections
was no congenial. |
Inquiry ordered into suicide
case SHIMLA, Aug 24 — A magisterial inquiry was today ordered by the Health Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda, into the circumstances leading to the recent suicide by a Resident Doctor of Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Dr Harpal Singh, and also the functioning of Dr S.K. Ahluwalia, Head of the Preventive and Social Medicine Department. The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Mr Bharat Khera, has been asked to conduct the inquiry and submit his report within 15 days. Dr Harpal Singh belonged to Karnal in Haryana. Mr Nadda told the TNS that he had also asked the Vigilance Department to inquire into the students allegation of irregularities against Dr Ahluwalia. He said Dr Ahluwalia was being removed from examination system internship process and also from the Students Advisory Council. Earlier, the resident doctors took out a procession and held a rally outside the Secretariat protesting against the conditions in the IGMC and demanded a CBI inquiry against Dr Ahluwalia. The parents of Dr Harpal Singh also joined the protest march demanding a thorough inquiry into the suicide by their son. His mother complained to Mr Nadda demanding that a copy of the suicide note should be given to her by the police. She demanded that an FIR
should be registered against Dr Ahluwalia and a separate
inquiry should be conducted by the CBI or the Human
Rights Commission. |
Better facilities needed CHAMBA: Replete with a picturesque setting and magnificent landscapes, Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh has a vast tourism potential. There are a number of beauty spots of tourist interest in the district which have not been explored on account of the lack of communication facilities. It is only road links to such spots which can explore the tourism potential in the region to ensure the socio-economic development of the people. The district is known for its natural scenic beauty, antiques and historical culture. It is located on the north-west of the Himalayas adjoining the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The topography of the district consists of mountainous and submountainous terrain ranging from 960 m to 5,556 m (Kailash Mount). In this distant region, most of the areas consist of hills, poorly cemented in conglomerates of sand stones of very recent origin. Furthermore, the area is slide and seismic prone. As such development activities like the construction of roads, bridges and buildings are required to be carried out in a systematic manner after conducting detailed geophysical studies, and by exerting minimum external pressure on the virgin slopes against sliding and erosion. The cost of construction per km is much higher as compared to the plains and is to the order of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh from submontane to mountainous tribal belt for the construction of an unmetalled road of 5m to 7 m width standard. The total length of the roads at present in the district is 1,270 km, out of which 581 km is metalled and tarred. The road density per 100 sq km works out to 19.45 against the road density of 36.59 of the entire state of Himachal Pradesh. If, the road density of the state is to be achieved, an additional length of 1,000 km will have to be constructed to promote tourism. Keeping this objective in view, much emphasis is being laid on the construction of roads in the region. According to an official survey, a lot of money is required for the maintenance of the roads in the district as the hills are slide prone and geology of the alpine area is of very recent origin. The road surfaces left unmetalled require intermittent repairs and result in the excessive wear and tear of government as well as tourist vehicles. However, priority is
being given to metalling and tarring the existing roads.
The funds thus saved from the maintenance cost are being
utilised for the construction of new lifelines. |
Vandalisation over "Kohram"
ridiculed SHIMLA, Aug 24 — Mr Kishori Lal, the Industries Minister, has ridiculed the Congress for blaming the state government for the release of "Kohram", a Hindi film in which one of the characters had the same name as Mr Virbhadra Singh, the Congress legislature party leader, on the eve of the Lok Sabha poll. In a statement here yesterday he said the state government had nothing to do with either the making of the film or its release. As such there was no question of the coalition government wanting to gain political mileage from the film. The charge was baseless and far fetched. The BJP, which had impressive achievements during its 16 month rule, would not bank upon such petty issues. Mr Khushi Ram Balnatah, general secretary of the state BJP, said the violent protest by Congress workers, who attached the premises of a cable operator and damaged property, was a matter of grave concern. He said the former Chief Minister should take umbrage at the film only if the character bearing the name Mr Virbhadra Singh had similarities with him. If this was not the case there was no reason for raising a hue and cry over the film. Mr Balnatah reminded
Congress leaders that when M.F. Husain made objectionable
paintings of Goddess Durga they condemned it in the garb
of "freedom of expression." |
CEO for vigil in Chamba
areas CHAMBA, Aug 24 — The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Himachal Pradesh, Mr Bhim Sen has underlined the need of maintaining strict vigil over the law and order situation in Chamba district, particularly in the sensitive areas adjoining Jammu and Kashmir in view of the Lok Sabha poll. This was stated by the CEO while presiding over a meeting of district officers at Chamba on Monday. He directed the officers to strengthen the communication network with the district headquarters as well as the state headquarter, Shimla. The CEO who reviewed the election process and arrangements in the district asked the district authorities to ensure necessary election arrangements and adequate security on the polling booths so that free, fair and smooth elections could be conducted and the voters could cast his vote fearlessly. He advised officers to adhere strictly to election code of conduct. The CEO informed that there were five Assembly segments viz. Bhattiyat, Banikhet, Rajnagar (SC), Chamba (four in Kangra Parliamentary constituency), Bharmour (ST) in Mandi parliamentary constituency. The CEO said that a
state-level meeting of all Deputy Commissioners and
Superintendents of Police would be held on August 25 at
Shimla to chalk out further strategy for the conducting
free, fair and smooth Lok Sabha elections in the state. |
13
families
evacuated CHAMBA, Aug 24 — Thirteen families of Kareri village in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh have been evacuated to nearby safer villages following the collapse of their houses by a cloud-burst in the last week. An official spokesman told this correspondent here today that according to delayed reports pouring into the district headquarters, the cloud-burst occurred at Sikridhar which washed away 19 houses, nine bridges and six watermills in Charoli, Julara and Sillaghrat belts of Churah and Chamba tehsils. The district
administration has so far distributed Rs 17,000 and 12
blankets to the affected families. However, revenue
officials have been directed to provide all possible
assistance to the affected families. |
Breakthrough in Keshav Verma case SOLAN, Aug 24 — The police achieved a major breakthrough in the Keshav Verma case a self-styled chief of the Solankey Tiger Force, when they succeeded in tracing the printing of the outfit’s stationery to the local computer shop today. Mr Rakesh Aggarwal, SP, said even though Verma had claimed that the series of 10 acts of arson and attempted disruption of rail and road traffic had been committed by himself only but there were reasons to believe that certain acts like felling and dragging of two huge oak trees onto the rail tracks could not have been the handiwork of his alone. He believed that some other persons were also involved. He said now the police
had been waiting for the return of the computer operator,
who reportedly gone outstation. |
Hearing on plea to ban
"Kohram" today SHIMLA, Aug 24, — The HP High Court will tomorrow hear a petition of the former Chief Minister and Congress leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, seeking a countrywide ban on screening of the controversial film "Kohram". The petition was filed in the court today and a Division Bench consisting of the Chief Justice, Mr D.Raju, and Mr Justice L.S. Panta, fixed it for hearing tomorrow. The petition has sought a complete ban on screening of the film and also its seizure. It has been alleged that the release of the film at the time of the Lok Sabha elections was motivated and Mr Virbhadra Singh's personality was scandalised in the story. The grouse of Mr Virbhadra Singh is that the villain of the film, Danny Denzongpa, has been named as Virbhadra Singh, alias Raja Sahib. He has been depicted as a politician. The coincidence is that Mr Virbhadra Singh is popularly known here as "Raja Sahib". The screening of the
film by some cable operators here has created a
controversy and two of them were allegedly beaten up by
activists of the National Students Union of India. |
Plea to close stone crushers SHIMLA, Aug 24 — Mr Balak Ram, member, State Grievances Committee, has urged the government to order closure of the stone crusher in village Panhot in Dhami. He said villages like Kalhoni Kaflog, Jhinga, Shill, Tikker, Bachharag and Jhaltoo had been the worst hit. Besides transforming fertile fields into wasteland, the digging loosens the soil and boulders roll down. During the rainy season
washed down the debris got deposited on pastures and
cultivable land. Despite immense damage being caused to
environment the government had not taken any action and
instead it proposed to renew the lease. |
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