P R A D E S H
Friday, December 17, 1999
|
H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
|
Friday, December 17, 1999 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
|
|
Virbhadra criticises
White Paper |
 |
|
|
JE’s death was accidental: CM SHIMLA, Dec 16 — The death of Mr Hem Singh, a Junior Engineer of the state power board, who collapsed at a height of 16,000 ft on way to the Pin-Parbati Pass on September 14, 1999, during an official tour, was accidental and there was no negligence on the part of any officer. Hamirpur College management booked
for fraud NSUI
threatens stir Temple
reforms sought 5
die as car falls into nullah |
|||||
 |
||||||
Virbhadra criticises White Paper SHIMLA, Dec 16 — The leader of the Opposition, Mr Virbhadra Singh, today grilled the BJP-HVC combine Government for having failed to define its policy on tackling the state's financial crisis in its White Paper, which was presented in the Assembly by the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal. Mr Virbhadra Singh was participating in the debate on the White Paper which Mr Dhumal presented in the House on the opening day of the winter session on December 9. Mr Virbhadra Singh pointed out that although the BJP had always been criticising the previous Congress Government for raising loans from the open market to meet the crisis, but now it was following the same practice and has raised loans amounting to about Rs 2600 crore during the past two years. This includes Rs 450 crore raised through the HPSEB and the State Forest Corporation. He said that the White Paper was silent about the quantum of loans to be raised by the government during the current financial year. Mr Virbhadra Singh said it appeared that the Cabinet has already decided to raise Rs 600 crore through the national power corporation by mortgaging five years of power from the Nathpa-Jhakri power project from the date of generation. Mr Virbhadra Singh said only selective information has been given in the White Paper. The State Government headed by Mr P.K. Dhumal was following the footsteps of the previous Congress Government in raising loans and hiring a helicopter, but on a larger scale. He said that lots of statistical information has been packed in the White Paper, but the government was shy of presenting its own policy on the issue. It has confused the issue regarding the present government's policies on the matter. He said that he could have culled out lots of facts from the White Paper to demonstrate how the financial parameters have sharply deteriorated after the Congress put down the reins of power. However, the intention now was to seriously discuss the financial crisis and find ways to solve the problem. No amount of shifting the blame on the previous Congress Government can absolve the Chief Minister and the Government of their respective responsibilities in the matter. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the financial assistance of Rs 700 crore provided by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, although a welcome step, will not make any appreciable dent in the overall financial situation of the State. The position is grim and will require stringent remedial measures. The economy measures announced by the government are insignificant and only cosmetic, he said. Although both the Treasury Benches and the Opposition members suggested that a consensus should be evolved for meeting the financial crisis, but many times tempers began to fray while Mr Babu Ram Mandayal (BJ) was speaking on the issue. Mr Mandayal demanded an inquiry into the raising of loan by the previous Congress Government on 37 per cent interest ignoring an offer by a private party at 15 per cent interest. He alleged that the helicopter was hired by the Congress Government on a higher rate than what was offered by one of the parties. Mr Virbhadra Singh took objection to the points raised by Mr Mandayal and said this was not in the spirit of cooperation which both sides were trying to reach on the issue. Intervening, Mr Dhumal said that it was not the intention to hurt the sentiments of the Opposition. He pointed out that the figures quoted by Mr Virbhadra Singh regarding the loans raised by the present government were inflated and he would give the details in his reply tomorrow. Initiating the debate, Mr Kaul Singh (Cong) pointed out that the BJP had made much noise about the strength of the ministry of Mr Virbhadra Singh, but now Mr Dhumal had formed a bigger ministry and many BJP activists have been made heads of various boards and corporations. He suggested that the Centre should provide a compensation of at least Rs 200 crore annually to the State for having banned green felling and protecting greenery. Mr Jai Kishen Sharma (BJ) said that instead of both parties indulging in mudslinging on each other, some effective measures should be suggested for overcoming the crisis. Steps should be taken for becoming self reliant. He suggested that an overall review of the subsidies should be done and government expenditure cut. Mr Chander Kumar (Cong) said there was need to review the policy on tourism, power generation and agriculture. The bureaucracy should be made accountable for the losses which various boards and corporations were making. Mr J.P. Nanda, Health Minister, said that tax-free budgets and populist slogans were responsible to a great extent for the financial mess. Instead of building a sound infrastructure during the past 50 years, only subsidies were doled out to the people. He suggested that taxes should be imposed on those who could afford to pay them. He said this was for the first time that the government has come out with a White Paper on the finances. Mr G.S. Bali (Cong) also
spoke. |
No new MoU on power project: CM SHIMLA, Dec 3 — Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Chief Minister, today informed the House that no global tenders have been invited for signing a memorandum of understanding for the execution of the 1000 MW Karcham-Wangtu project. The MOU was signed during President's rule with the Jai Prakash Industries after negotiations. Replying to a supplementary of Mr Virbhadra Singh, the Leader of the Opposition, during question hour Mr Dhumal said the recent agreement with the company was in pursuance of the MoU. The company had prepared the detailed project report. As per the report the total cost of the project would be Rs 4397 crore and the average cost of production over a period of 10 years would be Rs 2.30 per unit. He said so far no power purchase agreement had been signed and as a matter of policy the state electricity board does not purchase power from any project with a generation capacity of more than 25 MW. The Chief Minister said the project envisaged a construction of a 90-metre high diversion dam, and added that there would be no dislocation of population. Only some government quarters fell in the project area which could be easily vacated. The catchment area of the dam was 48755 sq km, including 38760 sq km of the snow catchment area. The project was likely to be completed by the year 2009 and it would generate 4651 mega watt hours in a 50 per cent dependable year. Answering another question Mr Dhumal told Mr Kashmir Singh that the 2 MW-Padam Shri Kailash Mahajan Hydel Project in Chamba had been completed at a cost of Rs 13.94 crore this year. The Chief Minister told Mr Rangila Ram Rao that the government was seriously pursuing with the Railway Ministry that the Bhanupali-Bilaspur rail project. Earlier, the Rs 900 crore project was planned to be executed on the Konkan Railway pattern, but now the government had urged the ministry to make it a joint venture between the State and the Centre. He said both options had been kept open as State's equity share in the project came to Rs 55 crore in both the cases. In a written reply Mr Dhumal informed the House that the economy measures implemented by the government would help save about Rs 15 crore every month. In response to another question he told Mrs Viplove Thakur that the total amount, including the initial contribution of Rs 2.50 crore by the state government, raised under the Kargil fund was Rs 11.11 crore, out of which Rs 2.63 crore had been utilised so far. In another written reply the Chief Minister informed the House that as many as 35 murders and 34 cases of rape occurred from August 15 to November 15, this year. Besides 83 cases of alleged suicides were also reported during the period and in 23 such incidents criminal cases were registered. As many as 25 unidentified bodies were found in the state. The House also passed
the State Electricity (supply) Amendment Bill which
bestows the status of a "generating company" on
the cooperative societies registered under the Societies
Registration Act. The Salaries and Allowances of
Ministers Amendment Bill, seeking to abolish rent free
accommodation for ministers, was also passed. |
Baljee murder case goes to CBI CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The Himachal Pradesh High Court has entrusted to the CBI the investigation of the brutal murder of Mr Harsh Baljee, a prominent hotelier of Shimla. Ms Justice Kamlesh Sharma and Mr Justice Surinder Sarup, who handed down this order on December 14 (a copy of which made available today), ruled that ‘‘the investigation will be conducted by the CBI HQ in New Delhi within six months, as far as possible, and thereafter a challan filed in court.’’ The Bench directed the HP Superintendent of Police, (C.I.D.), Crime Branch, Shimla, to hand over the records of the case to the CBI investigating team within one week. Expressing its willingness to take over the investigation of this case, the CBI had urged the court to direct the Himachal Pradesh Government to provide them three-room accommodation at Shimla for the camp office and for the stay of the CBI team, including accommodation for the supervisory officers, two vehicles for the movement of the CBI team and supervisory officers, two Inspectors, two Sub Inspectors and five constables to assist the CBI investigation team and a telephone with STD facility at the camp office to maintain communication between the CBI investigation team and its senior officers. HP’s Additional Director-General of Police, Mr A.K. Puri, had filed an affidavit assuring the court that the state government would extend cooperation to the CBI investigation team in terms of manpower, secretarial help, transport facilities in the emergent situation within the state. However, he expressed the government’s inability to provide accommodation and telephone facilities ‘‘as it has its own office in Shimla’’. After hearing counsel for the petitioner, Additional Advocate-General for the state and Additional Central Government Standing Counsel and going through the record, the Bench observed" ‘‘We are of the view that no order is required to be passed (about the facilities demanded by the CBI and the assurance given by the Additional Director-General of Police).’’ Allowing the plea of Mrs Renu, widow of Mr Baljee, the Bench observed that ‘‘she is aggrieved by the slow progress of investigation being conducted by the C.I.D. branch of the Himachal Police. It has failed to complete investigation and file the challan till today.’’ Mr Baljee was murdered on the night of November 14, 1996, on the busy, high-security road between the Western Command headquarters on the one side and the offices of the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police on the other. To begin with the
investigation of this case was conducted by the Shimla
police. However, pursuant to the directions of the
Supreme Court the investigation of this case was
entrusted to the C.I.D. (Crime Branch) of Himachal
Pradesh. Both these agencies, however, had failed to
solve the murder of Mr Baljee, forcing his widow to
approach the High Court with a prayer to entrust the
investigation of this case to the CBI. |
JE’s death was accidental: CM SHIMLA, Dec 16 — The death of Mr Hem Singh, a Junior Engineer of the state power board, who collapsed at a height of 16,000 ft on way to the Pin-Parbati Pass on September 14, 1999, during an official tour, was accidental and there was no negligence on the part of any officer. Stating this in the Vidhan Sabha, Mr P.K. Dhumal, the Chief Minister, said it was a tragic accident which could neither be predicted nor averted. He said, Mr Avay Shukla, Member (Finance) in the state electricity board, whom the deceased was accompanying, was on an official tour to study the catchment of the Parbati project area and observe the electrification status in the interior of Kulu and Spiti areas and not on a pleasure trip as alleged. The next morning it was observed that he was suffering from mild breathlessness, but kept saying that he was only tired and would follow the party. However, the group felt that since it was already at 16000 ft and had still to climb another 2000 ft to reach the Pin-Parbati Pass, it would not be advisable to ask Mr Hem Singh continue any further. It decided to send him back to Gwacha. However, Hem Singh's condition took a turn for the worse on September 13 and he expired the next day. The board had fully
provided for the family of the deceased. It had paid the
ex-gratia, leave encashment and other dues to the widow
and issued orders granting her special pensionary
benefits which entitled her to draw remuneration equal to
the last pay drawn by her husband till the date he would
have been superannuated. The matter was raised by Mrs
Asha Kumari. |
Hamirpur College management
booked for fraud HAMIRPUR, Dec 16 — The police has booked the owners of Shailja Engineering Institute, Hamirpur for allegedly committing a fraud with the students enrolled by it. A case under Sections 420 and 468 of the IPC had been registered against the owners of the institution, but no arrest has been made as yet. Sources told The Tribune that the police took action following orders from Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner Anuradha Thakur following the report of the ADM stating that this was a private institute, whereas its owners were claiming it to be jointly sponsored by the state government. Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner levelling various charges against the institute management. Consequently, the Deputy Commissioner ordered ADM to conduct an inquiry into the matter. The DC got the inquiry report yesterday and ordered the filing of a criminal case against its owners. She ordered the police to get the accounts of the institution frozen from a local court so that no one could misutilise the funds. Meanwhile, the
institution has been closed for 15 days by the owners. |
NSUI threatens stir CHAMBA, Dec 16 — The National Students Union of India (NSUI) has decided to resort to agitation if the state government failed to open an Extension Study Centre of the Himachal Pradesh University at Dharamsala meeting the persistent demand of the students of Chamba and Kangra districts of the state. In a statement issued here today, Mr Vineet Vij, Chairman, Action Committee of the Himachal unit of the NSUI, said that since the Chamba and Kangra districts of Himachal were located quite away from the state Capital Shimla where the University was situated, the poor students of these areas had been spending a lot of money for appearing in the University Entrance Examinations for higher education in different subjects of the university. Reiterating his major demand, Mr Vij alleged that the state government was playing havoc with the careers of students of these remote districts of the state. He also charged the government with ignoring the genuine demand of the students. Mr Vij demanded the immediate filling of vacant posts of lecturer in various colleges in the state in the light of ensuing annual examinations. Mr Vij demanded
renovation of college buildings and the toilets which
oftenly remain in bad shape and stinking in the colleges
as found during his recent visit to colleges in different
districts of the state. |
Temple reforms sought KANGRA, Dec 16 — Mahant Swami Virendranand Giri, President of the Rajasthan Sadhu Samaj yesterday demanded that the pilgrim towns of Kangra, Jawalaji, Baijnath, Chintpurni, Naina Devi, Baba Balak Nath and Barmour and Chamunda be declared as 'Holy towns' and the liquor and meat shops be immediately closed in these towns as religious pertinents of the thousands of pilgrims visiting these temple towns were being hurt. In a letter to the Governor, Mr Vishnov Kant Shastri, Swami demanded that he should direct officers to streamline the working of the temples in the state on the pattern of Mata Vaishno Devi and set up a shrine board for running these temples. He further demanded that the employees appointed in these temples should have religious backround and not the political one. He said if these temple towns were declared 'Holy Towns' it would boost pilgrim tourism of the state and the sentiments of these pilgrims would not be hurt. He also demanded that the income and expenditure of these temples should be published in the newspapers so that there was no alleged diversion of the temple income. He yesterday expressed
concern over the worsening management of the Bajreshwari
Devi temple and demanded that the appointments made
recently in this temple be looked into as these were
allegedly made on political grounds. He demanded that the
free langar which had been stopped, in this temple be
immediately restored to provide this facility to the
visiting pilgrims. |
5 die as car falls into nullah SHIMLA, Dec 16 — Five persons were killed when a car fell into Pangi nullah in Kinnaur district last night. The car was on its way from Kaza to Shimla. Two of the dead were identified as C.R. Kaundal, Assistant Research Officer, Integrated Tribal Development Project, Kaza and Naresh Kumar, clerk in the office of Assistant Project Officer Kaza. The bodies have been taken to district hospital at Rekong Peo for post-mortem. The Governor, Mr Vishnu
Kant Shastri, and the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal,
have expressed grief over the accident and conveyed their
sympathies to the bereaved families. |
 |
||
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
