P R A D E S H
Saturday, December 18, 1999
|
H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
|
Saturday, December 18, 1999 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
|
|
CM’s no to govt
staff on power boards Centre rejects cement plant
proposal |
 |
|
|
3-month jail for MD of
sanchayaka Plea to end pension anomaly
Follow Indian culture: Governor 31 head of cattle perish in fire |
||||||
 |
|||||||
CM’s no to govt staff on
power boards SHIMLA, Dec 17 — Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, today said that it was not possible for the state government to have its regular nominees on the boards of management of Central agencies and private companies executing hydel power projects in the state. Replying to a discussion on a private members’ resolution on the issue moved by Mr Rangila Ram Rao, the Chief Minister said it was not feasible to have representatives on the boards of management in projects in which the state government had no equity participation. It was more important that the government was in a position to effectively monitor the execution of the projects. A multi-disciplinary committee, comprising the nominees of the government, the state Power Board and private companies executing the project, was quite effective in monitoring the execution of the projects and handling other related matters. Regarding the expenditure incurred by the state on investigation of projectors, Mr Dhumal said that the amount spent on preparation of detailed project reports of the schemes was recovered with interest from the executing agencies at the time of financial closure. Earlier, moving the resolution, Mr Rao said that presence of state governments nominees was essential on boards of management of executing agencies to protect the state’s vital interest. Completion of projects was delayed by years due to lack of effective monitoring and this also resulted in huge cost over-runs. He cited the example of the Nathpa-Jhakri project, the cost of which had increased from Rs 1600 crore to Rs 10,000 crore. Mr Ram Lal Thakur said that the government would not be able to effectively implement the agreement as along as politicians continued to seek ‘personal favours’ like jobs for relatives and contracts and supply orders for supporters from the companies executing the projects. He said that handing over projects to private companies without control over execution could lead to sharp increase in costs. He cited the example of the Baspa project and claimed that the previous Congress government did not sign the power purchase agreement with a private company as the projected cost of power production was high. Earlier, the House
mourned the death Mr K.L. Sharma, Vice-President of the
BJP and former Rajya Sabha MP from the state, who died
this morning. |
Centre rejects cement plant
proposal SHIMLA Dec 17 — The Union Ministry of Forests and Environment has rejected the proposal for the setting up a cement plant at Sundernagar on the ground that the site was too close to protected wild life areas. Stating this during question hour Mr Kishori Lal, Industries Minister, said the plant site was just 500 m from the Bandli Wild Life Sanctuary and the mining area also fell in its close proximity. He said at present only one cement plant was in the pipeline and was being set up by Larson and Tubro Company in Chamba district. The cement plant planned at Alsindi in Karsog had not made any headway due to lack of interest by the private company with which a MoU was signed. In fact, the MoU stood cancelled because of the failure of the company to furnish a bank guarantee. Replying to a supplementary of Mr Sukh Ram, Mr Kishori Lal said the export of clinker could not be banned as both clinker and cement were deemed end products. There was also virtually no loss of tax if clinker was taken out to another state for manufacturing cement as government had increased road tax on its carriage. Even, otherwise there was no justification for banning the export of 'clinker' as the total consumption of cement in the state was only around six lakh tonnes whereas the combined production of all the cement plants was 32 lakh tonnes. Replying to the main question of Mr G.S. Bali, he said survey of limestone deposit was carried out at five places, including Arki and Bagha in Solan district. He said compensatory plantation was being carried out by plants for the forest area lost due to mining. The Ambuja plant had been planting 3.47 lakh saplings over an area of 205 hectares as against the loss of forest over 108 hectares. Similarly, the ACC plant had raised 6.75 lakh saplings. Mr Narinder Bragta, Horticulture Minister, told Mr Harsh Mahajan in a written reply that only 10.81 lakh cartons were manufactured by the Agro Packaging India Limited this year as against 48.52 lakh last year. At present 1.60 lakh cartons and 77 tonnes of paper worth Rs 34.83 lakh was in stock. In another written
reply, the industries Minister informed the house that as
many as 8184 Himachalis and 12,513 non-Himachalis were
employed in 453 industrial units of the Nalagarh and
Barotiwala area. |
"Once a hill resort, now a garbage dump" SHIMLA, Dec 17 (ANI) — Garbage disposal has emerged as the biggest civic problem in Shimla, one of India’s most written about hill-resorts and capital of Himachal Pradesh. Once the summer home of British officers in colonial India, Shimla, better known as the "Queen of Hills", is one of the filthiest hill-resorts now. The streets are littered with garbage that spills out of dustbins and vats left around the town in the most unplanned way. Locals say the bins are placed in the most inconvenient places which the garbage clearing trucks find hard to access. As a result, filth just piles up. Dogs, cows and monkeys scatter the garbage on the streets while searching for food. In spite of being one of the most popular tourist destinations, the place stinks and does not have a proper garbage disposal system. "There is no proper garbage disposable system here. The municipality trucks just dump the filth down the hillside into a small stream near the town. The water in the canal is highly polluted and the whole area stinks. It affects not just the environment but our health too," said Mr Harmindar Kanwar, a resident of Shimla. The Municipal Corporation of Shimla blames the acute shortage of funds for its problems. "The biggest problem is non-payment of taxes. Taxes are our source of revenue. But neither the private property owners, nor the government pays municipal taxes. We find it very difficult to manage," said Jaini Prem, the newly appointed Mayor of Shimla. Prem said the Municipal Corporation had asked the government for funds so that it can clear the salaries of the existing staff and recruit some more people. The Mayor said the narrow streets of Shimla were also to be blamed for the problem. Shimla, being a hill-town, has few broad streets. The winding narrow lanes of the town make it difficult to place big vats and bins in residential areas. As a result garbage overflows into the streets. Residents say that a total lack of coordination between the state government and the Municipal Corporation due to political rivalry is responsible for the garbage fiasco in Shimla, a charge both deny. The Bharatiya Janata
Party-led coalition rules Himachal Pradesh while the
Congress party, its political rival in the state as well
as in the federal government, is at the helm in the
Shimla Municipal Corporation. |
3-month jail for MD of
sanchayaka SHIMLA, Dec 17 — The HP state Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has sentenced Suraj Prakash Saklani, Managing Director-cum Chairman of the Himachal Grameen Sanchayaka Ltd, to three months, imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5000 on him for defying the orders of the commission. The order was issued by the President of the commission, Justice P.N. Nag, and its members, Mr I.D. Bali and Mr Krishna Tandon, here today The commission ordered the SP, Shimla, to arrest Saklani and lodge him in the sub-jail at Kaithu here. Saklani defied the orders of the commission to refund the principal amount with interest which the complainant, Ms Rama Gupta, had deposited with his company within a month. Neither was the amount
refunded by him within the stipulated period (December
8), nor did he comply with the order of the commission to
furnish the list of assets of the company and also
present himself in the court today. |
Sharma’s death mourned SHIMLA, Dec 17 — Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, Governor, expressing sorrow over the demise of Mr K.L. Sharma national Vice-President of the BJP said the country had lost an experienced politician and a committed social worker in his death. Expressing shock over the death, Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, said Mr Sharma had dedicated his life to the service of people. Mr Shanta Kumar, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, said the BJP had lost one of its founder and a pillar of strength. His death had caused an irreparable loss to the party and the nation. Mr Suresh Chandel, state
party President and Mr Ganesh Dut, the party spokesperson
also condoled the death of Mr Sharma. |
Plea to end pension anomaly SHIMLA Dec 17— The Himachal Pradesh Pensioners Welfare Association has urged the State Government to end the anomaly in pensions of those employees who retired between January and September 1996, after the implementation of the new pay scales. The association pointed out that the Union Government had already issued the necessary notification in this regard on October 18 and the state which followed the Central pension rules should not delay its implementation keeping in view the hardships faced by the pensioners. It also demanded
immediate release of the additional dearness allowance
instalments which became due from July. The dues of the
government employees had already been released and
pensioners, who need the most, had been left out. |
Engg institute owner arrested HAMIRPUR, Dec 17 — The police has arrested Mr Purshottam Dass Nirala, owner of the local Shaliza Engineering Institute, for allegedly playing a fraud with the students enrolled by him. He has been arrested under Sections 420 and 468 of the Indian Penal Code. An official spokesman
told reporters here today that the police was
investigating the affairs of the institute. |
Follow Indian culture: Governor DHARAMSALA, Dec 17 — The Himachal Pradesh Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, today exhorted the Indian youth to follow the Indian culture and imbibe the spirit of patriotism rather than aping the western culture. The Governor was here today to formally launch the youth awakening programme under the "Vande Mataram" programme launched by Nehru Yuvak Kendra. He flagged off the "Vande Mataram Yuva Vahini" which will visit all parts of the state. The programme coincides with the birth anniversary of the South Indian patriotic poet, Subramaniam Bharti and will culminate on January 21, next year, which is the birthday anniversary of Swami Vivekanand. Mr Shastri said India had rich tradition and culture and it was to the Indian youth to put in hard work and deliver the goods in the millennium. The families of those
martyrs who sacrificed their lives fighting for the
nation at Kargil, were honoured on the occasion. The
Chairman of the Board for School Education, Mr C.L.
Gupta, Chairman of the Subordinate Services Commission,
Mr K.C. Malhotra, and member of the Vande Mataram
National Committee, Mr Mahender Pandey, were also
present. |
Sharma elected MC president KUMARHATTI, Dec 17
— Mr Manmohan Sharma was yesterday elected the
president of municipal council, Parwanoo, 20 km from here
at a meeting which was called after the Sub-Divisional
Officer (s), Solan, issued notification exercising power
vested under Himachal Pradesh Municipal Act 1994,
directing the executive officer, municipal committee,
Parwanoo, to convene a meeting to elect the president of
municipal committee, Parwanoo. |
31 head of cattle perish in
fire SHIMLA, Dec 17 — At least 31 head of cattle perished in a fire in Poshra village of Nerwa subtehsil in Shimla district last night. According to reports reaching here some cow sheds and houses were gutted. The total loss was assessed at several lakh of rupees. Mr P.C. Katoch, Deputy
Commissioner, visited the affected families and disbursed
Rs 75,000 as immediate relief. |
 |
||
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
