P R A D E S H
Saturday, July 24, 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, July 24, 1999 |
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Security on Chamba border
intensified CHAMBA, July 23 — The security arrangements on the border areas of the Pangi valley in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, adjoining the Leh and Kargil region, have been intensified. Punjab order puts HP in a fix SHIMLA, July 23 — The 'illegal' order of the Punjab Government banning the sale of Himachal lottery tickets in its territory has put the state government in a fix. The order, which the state feels, contravenes the Lotteries Regulation Act, 1998, has forced it to invite short-term tenders for appointing a new sole selling agent as the previous one has terminated the contract abruptly citing the decision of the Punjab Government as a ground. |
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BJP poll strategy today HP
Cong announces 3 names for LS poll Dhumal
lauds hydel plan Woman's
body found Withdraw
hike in college fees: NSUI |
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Security on Chamba border
intensified CHAMBA, July 23 — The security arrangements on the border areas of the Pangi valley in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, adjoining the Leh and Kargil region, have been intensified. Speaking to mediapersons here today, the Director-General of Police, Mr T.R. Mahajan, said during his five-day tour to the border areas adjoining J and K he observed that the situation was quite satisfactory. He said the police and other para-miliraty forces were regularly patrolling along the border and keeping close watch on the suspects. He said as many as 167 special police officers (SPOs) had also been deployed with a view to combat terrorists activities. He said the SPOs were being imparted training in a phased manner. He informed that the state Government had decided to recruit 300 ex-servicemen for which the process was on and so far as many as 600 applications had been received by the HP State Ex-serviecemen Corporation. He said the ex-servicemen would be deployed on the borders to assist the security forces to check infitration. He said so far 163
village defence committees (VDCs) had been set up which
were functioning in coordination with the security
forces. |
Punjab order puts HP in a fix SHIMLA, July 23 — The 'illegal' order of the Punjab Government banning the sale of Himachal lottery tickets in its territory has put the state government in a fix. The order, which the state feels, contravenes the Lotteries Regulation Act, 1998, has forced it to invite short-term tenders for appointing a new sole selling agent as the previous one has terminated the contract abruptly citing the decision of the Punjab Government as a ground. This may, however, turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the state as fresh tenders could substantially increase its revenue from lotteries. At present it is getting only around Rs 10 crore from it. The Punjab Government's order came on June 10 and the sole selling agent of the state terminated the contract, which was valid till 2000, the very next day. The state's plea that the order was illegal and that there was no ban on the sale of tickets in other states failed to persuade him to continue. As the situation stands now the state will have to appoint a new sole selling agent by August 6, the day the existing contract stands terminated on the expiry of the mandatory one month notice. The state government has already floated short-term tenders to ensure that the sudden termination of the contract does not lead to financial losses which could run into crores of rupees. Besides it will also enable the state to capture the market where a big vacuum will be created due to closing of the Sikkim lottery, which has a turnover of over Rs 2,500 crore following the expiry of the agreement. Meanwhile, the state government has also taken up the matter with the Punjab Government and pointed out that its order withdrawing permission for selling lottery tickets was bad in the eyes of law as no permission was required after the enforcement of the Lotteries Regulation Act. In fact, permission was required before the Act came into being as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court. Under Act the state could approach the Centre for the imposition of ban in case there was any violation of the rules. The government has also challenged the grounds on which the Punjab Government banned the sale of its lottery tickets. There was no truth in the charge that the state has not given the time schedule for taking out draws, as mentioned in the order, as such details had been clearly specified in the rules framed as early as 1994, it asserted in a letter to the Punjab Government. Similarly, the other ground that the time period by which the unclaimed prizes would be forfeited to the government had not been specified in the rules was also baseless. The rules unambiguously state that the unclaimed prizes would be forfeited after a period of three months, it further pointed out. The Punjab Government has so far not replied to the letter and is trying to drag the matter. The state is already in
the process of finalising the bids for the sale of
tickets for a period of two months, required for entering
into a long-term contract. To safeguard its financial
interests it has put a condition that the successful
bidder for the short-term tender will have to pay at the
rates finalised on the basis of the long-term tender. |
Kin of martyrs get job letters SHIMLA, July 23 — While elsewhere in the country promises are being made for the rehabilitation of the families of the soldiers who laid down their lives while fighting Pakistani intruders in Kargil, Shimla district today took the lead by getting dependants of all four martyrs of the area appointed on government jobs. The appointment letters were handed over to them by the Chief Secretary, Mr A.K. Goswami and Major Gen Jatinder Singh, Chief of Staff, Army Training Command (ARTRAC), at a simple function in Bachat Bhavan in the afternoon. With tears in her eyes Mrs Shakuntla, widow of grenadier Naresh Kumar, received from General Jatinder Singh the appointment letter for the post of a clerk in the office of the Deputy Commissioner here. She was married only two months before Naresh Kumar became a martyr on July 5 while fighting the enemy in the Kargil sector. The two brothers of late Naresh Kumar, Hem Raj (30) and Dharam Prakash (28), were keen to join the Army, but were told by the recruiting office that they were overage. Mrs Shakuntla said she would not hesitate from going to the battlefront in case need be. Ms Maneka, younger sister of sepoy Yashwant Singh who died while trying to recapture ‘Tiger Hill’ was handed over the letter of appointment as a clerk in the civil secretariat by Mr Goswami. She was in tears while proceeding to receive the appointment letter. She is the only other child of Mr Ram Sein and Mrs Bimla Devi, who are proud of their son having become a martyr for the country. Yashwant Singh belonged to Kewali village of Rohru tehsil. It was only after his death that the family members came to know that he had opened a bank account for his sister Maneka in the nearby town of Khadrala. He used to make deposits in her account out of his savings. Bhimi Ram, elder brother of Grenadier Anant Ram of 18th Grenadiers, has been appointed clerk in the office of Tehsildar, Sunni. General Jatinder Singh presented the letter of appointment to him. Anant Ram had come on leave just about a month and half before his martyrdom on July 5 while taking active part in "Operation Vijay". Bhimi Ram is the eldest of the six brothers and a sister in the family. He had offered to contribute half of the relief of Rs 5 lakh to the Chief Minister's Sainik Welfare Fund which was given to him by the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal recently. Mr Goswami also handed over letter of appointment to Ramesh Chand, a brother of martyr Shyam Singh Bikhta of the 13th J&K Rifles. He has been appointed clerk in the office of Naib Tehsildar Nerwa. Sepoy Shyam Singh laid his life on July 5 when a fierce battle was being fought to drive out the intruders from the Dras sector. His parents received a letter from him only five days before his martyrdom. His father Nand Ram and mother, Mrs Devku Devi said they were proud of their son having sacrificed his life for the country. All of them have been placed in the pay-scale of Rs 3120-5160. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Goswami said the Himachal Pradesh Government was planning to set up some institution which would take care of the needs of the dependants of the soldiers who are killed in action. He said the general tendency was that people united during conflict with any other country and were ready to make sacrifices, but the spirit died down with passage of time leaving the families of the martyrs alone. The Chief Secretary said the effort of the state government was to provide psychological support to the dependants of the martyrs. Himachal Pradesh is the first state in northern India to provide liberal relief of Rs 5 lakh to each of the killed soldiers, employment to a dependant and free education up to the graduate-level to two children of each martyr. He said that the state government was take every possible step for the rehabilitation of the families of the martyrs. He announced that the government would provide treatment to the mentally deranged sister of martyr Bijender Singh of Nandloo village of Kangra district. General Jatinder Singh appreciated efforts of the state government for the rehabilitation of the dependants of the soldiers who were killed in action. He said Shimla had shown the light to rest of the country by taking lead in providing government jobs to dependants of the war heroes. The Deputy Commissioner,
Mr Ram Subhag Singh, said that he did not want to
organise the function, but the Army authorities advised
him to do so with a view to sending message to other
parts of the country that proper care of the dependants
of the martyrs was being taken here. |
BJP poll strategy today DHARAMSALA, July 23 — The state unit of the BJP, including the Chief Minister and other senior ministers, will hold a meeting at Nurpur tomorrow, in the presence of the all-India General Secretary, Mr Narinder Modi, to plan the poll strategy and put an end to infighting. The all-India General Secretary of the BJP and in charge of Himachal, Mr Narinder Modi, will arrive at Nurpur, to consult partymen on the candidates to be fielded for various Lok Sabha seats. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal and the state president, Mr Suresh Chandel, will also attend the meeting. It is felt that the selection of party candidates is a mere formality, as the names are almost certain. The party high command seems to have taken a serious view of the infighting plaguing the party in Himachal. The name of the former Chief Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, as the official candidate for the Kangra parliamentary constituency is almost certain and he has been campaigning extensively in Chamba and Kangra since the dissolution of Parliament. The candidature of the state party president, Mr Suresh Chandel for the Hamirpur seat is also certain, as he has the backing of the Chief Minister and has been touring the area, former MP, Maheshwar Singh, is also learnt to be keen to contest from the Mandi seat, which he has represented earlier too. As per the seat-sharing with the HVC, the Shimla seat will be contested by the alliance partner. The state unit of the party will be forwarding the list of candidates to the party high command, but at the same time it is the groupism within the party fold, which has worried the leadership. In view of the Lok Sabha elections, the party high command is likely to direct the cadres to sink their differences and work unitedly. In the recent past there have been murmers of discontentment, and three Cabinet ministers owing allegiance to the Shanta Kumar faction, openly aired their grouse. All this brought to fore the sharp differences between the two groups. The Shanta Kumar group on the other hand had been alleging discrimination against them and their humiliation by ministers loyal to the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister will
be arriving at Nurpur on Friday. Before the meeting he
will be visiting the homes of three martyrs, who
sacrificed their lives in Kargil. He will offer
condolences to the families of Hav Surinder Kumar, of
10th Battallion of the corps of signals, Jagjeet Singh
Pathania of 28 Rashtriya Rifles and Santokh Singh of 20
Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. |
HP Cong announces 3 names for LS
poll SOLAN, July 23 — Former Chief Minister and CLP Leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh today named Mr Kishan Dutt Sultanpuri, Mr Kaul Singh Thakur and Mr Sat Mahajan as the party's likely choice for the Shimla (R), Mandi and Kangra Lok Sabha constituencies respectively for the coming parliamentary elections. Mr Singh, who addressed a press conference here said that the name of the Congress candidate from the Hamirpur constituency would, in all probability be decided from amongst former MP and minister, Mr N.C. Parashar, Ms Anita Verma, Mr B.R. Rahi and Maj Gen Bikram Singh (Retd). He said that in view of the party High Command's decision to allot tickets to all those party men who were members of the dissolved Lok Sabha, the ticket of Mr Kishan Dutt Sultanpuri stood automatically allotted. Mr Singh criticised the BJP and its ally the HVC for "flouting the prescribed code of conduct for elections", adding that both government machinery and vehicles were being daily used for political propaganda meetings and related activities by these two ruling alliance partners. He said that the July 14 public meeting of the Prime Minister at Kulu, officially billed as a government function, had been turned into a political one after the All India BJP General Secretary, Mr Narinder Modi and the BJP candidate from Mandi constituency, Mr Maheshwar Singh addressed the audience. He said that the Himachal Congress had written to the Election Commission to recover all the money spent on organising the Prime Minister's Kulu function, including the money spent on advertisements by the state Public Relation Department from the BJP unit of Himachal Pradesh. Mr Singh said that Congress workers were being directed to gherao all government vehicles found being misused by the ruling alliance ministers and chairpersons. He accused the state
government of practising nepotism and favouritism in
conducting the recently held examinations for recruitment
to Kangra Central Co-operative Bank staff in which
aspirant with post-graduate qualifications were rejected
while simple matriculates were declared successful. The
usual procedure of displaying the list of successful
candidates on the notice boards of the bank had also been
dispensed with. He produced a document in support of his
claim. |
Dhumal lauds hydel plan SHIMLA, July 23 — Mr P.K. Dhumal Chief Minister, said the decision of the Centre increase the ratio of hydel power generation to thermal generation would immediately benefit Himachal Pradesh and go a longway in speedy exploitation of the state's hydel potential. Addressing the general body meeting of the State Power Engineers Association here last evening, he said the ratio of hydel to thermal power generation over the years could not be maintained at the 40 to 60 level as the government gave priority to thermal projects. In fact the share of hydel had slumped to 25 per cent and required immediate correction in the power policy. Referring to the state's plan he said the government had decided to develop Himachal Pradesh into the power state of the country within the next 10 to 15 years and the power engineers would have to play a leading role in achieving this goal. He said the exploitation of state's hydel potential would not only make Himachal a prosperous state but also help in meeting the energy requirements of the country to a great extent. The following were
elected as office-bearers of the executive committee of
the Himachal Power Engineers Association for the session
1999-2000. Mr S.N. Kapur — president, Mr Suneel
Grover — general secretary, Mr S.R. Vohra, Mr K.S.
Attri, Mr Rajesh Thakur and Mr Rajender Gupta —
joint secretaries. |
Woman's body found SHIMLA, July 23 — The body of an unidentified woman tourist was today recovered by the police from a local hotel. According to the SP, Mr O.C. Thakur, she was suspected to have been strangled by a man with whom she checked in the hotel on Wednesday as a tourist. The room of the hotel near the general bus stand occupied by the couple, showed signs of violence. The attached bathroom was also damaged. The crime came to light when the hotel staff opened the room with a duplicate key. The man who claimed to be her husband had escaped with some old ornaments and other valuables. Mr Thakur said the couple had written false address of Paharganj, Delhi, in the hotel register. A polythene bag carrying the name of a Ludhiana-based garment shop was found by the side of the woman's body. Police parties have been
rushed to Delhi and Ludhiana for further investigations. |
Withdraw hike in college fees:
NSUI BILASPUR, July 23 — The Himachal unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) would, work for general welfare of students and unemployed. Addressing a meeting of activists of the NSUI, at the Circuit House here yesterday, president of the state unit Keval Singh Pathania declared that the unit would be organised within 15 days and all sections of students would be given representation. He said girls would get 33 per cent seats in the organisation. He said the Bilaspur college coordination committee would be appointed within three days. He also declared that the NSUI would honour all meritorious students at the district level with "Rajiv Gandhi awards." He said the recent hike in fees of the colleges in the state should be withdrawn immediately. Mr Pathania also demanded that elections to the students' associations should be ordered in all colleges on the DUSU pattern. He demanded that a law
centre should be started at Dharamsala. |
BRO worker killed SHIMLA, July 23 — Bishu Lal of the Border Roads Organisation was killed while clearing landslides on the Leh-Manali road. According to Brig B.M. Bakshi, Chief Engineer of the Deepak Project of the BRO, the bulldozer with which Bishu Lal was clearing a landslide yesterday near Manali was tossed into the Beas by a boulder which rolled from above. Another BRO man, Vinod Kumar,was injured. Brig Bakshi said efforts were being made to trace the body of Bishu Lal. He said the Tandi-Killar road had been closed due to landslides. A bridge had been also damaged, The Hindustan — Tibet highway and the Manali-Leh road were open for traffic.
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Special steps to check enteritis SOLAN, July 23 — The Deputy Commissioner, Mr R.D. Dhiman, has ordered all the Sub Divisional Officers of the district to set up special committees comprising of medical officers, I.P.H. staff and panchayat officials for keeping "a strict vigil in all known gastroenterities-prone areas as well as to maintain proper cleanliness of all water sources, in their respective sub-divisions". Mr Dhiman, who presided
over a specially convened meeting of senior medical staff
and I.P.H. Officers and Sub Divisional Officers here
yesterday, said that a campaign should be launched
immediately to educate the people about the necessity of
drinking only safe water. |
Vivek Mehta tops Himachal PMT SHIMLA, July 23 — Vivek Mehta (roll no 2310) has topped the Himachal Pradesh PMT examination by securing 267 out of 300 marks. As many as 4175
applications were received out of which 150 were rejected
for reasons of eligibility. Out of 4025 candidates who
were issued roll numbers, 3925 candidates appeared in the
test, a spokesman of Himachal Pradesh University said
here today. |
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