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Saturday,
November 3, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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91 houses
gutted 12 injured
as students clash Industrial fumes cloud
Parwanoo Set up
Himalayan council: sammelan |
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Plea to
implement decision on lecturers Seminar on
human rights today
Hill road in bad shape Power
tariff: Cong dharna on Nov 10 
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91 houses gutted Kulu, November 2 A girl child, Sonia (3), was killed in fire. A two-storeyed Government Primary School and two temples were also destroyed in the fire. Balbir Singh, head constable, Manikaran, police post, who visited the spot, told this correspondent that they received the information of the fire accident yesterday at 8.30 pm and a police party left for the village immediately. The whole village, except a few houses, had been reduced to ashes. Villagers spent the night in the open, he added. Moti Ram, a school teacher of Toash Primary School, said the records and furniture of the school were destroyed. Though the cause of the fire could not be ascertained, a member of Barsheni panchayat, Ward No 2 expressed his apprehensions that the fire was caused by an electricity pole at the lower-end of the village as the wires on the pole had been sparking for the past many days. The Deputy Commissioner and the SP were not available for the information regarding the relief works. However, it was learnt that the local Tehsildar had left for the village to distribute the relief to the victims. The estimated loss was feared to cross Rs 2 crore, police source said. Business community and the Beopar Mandal, Manikaran, has also left for distributing the food stuff to the victims. In yet another fire accident in the district, 11 houses were reportedly gutted in Khayeen village of Shenskar panchayat of Banjar subdivision on the Wednesday night. Eighteen families have been rendered homeless. The Subdivisional Magistrate, Banjar, has reached the village to distribute the immediate relief and assess the loss. |
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12 injured
as students clash Shimla, November 2 Last night a few supporters of two student bodies, allegedly under the influence of liquor, had an altercation around 10 p.m. in the Dr
Y.S. Parmar Hostel. The brawl soon turned into a group clash as students from adjoining hostels also reached the scene. Three SFI activists
Daleep, Brij Lal and Hem Singh were injured in the clash. They alleged that the attack on them was preplanned and sickle, iron rods and other weapons were used. Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.D. Sharma, visited the hostel at midnight to pacify the warring factions. The two groups again clashed in the morning in the office of the Students Central Association
(SCA). This time activists of the Parishad were at the receiving end. Besides Gagan Deep and Niti Raj both ABVP workers, three other persons, including Dr J.C. Sharma, a Professor from
IIT, Kharagpur, who had come to the campus for personal work, were also injured in the free for all that followed. Mr Narinder
Attri, President of the SCA was also injured. The district administration had hard time controlling the situation. Mr
S.M. Katwal, the Additional District Magistrate and police officers finally succeeded in persuading the two groups to settle the issue through a dialogue. Mr Attri said that the
SFI, which dominated the campus for the past 15 years, had not as yet reconciled to its defeat in the SCA elections. he alleged all defeated SFI candidates were involved in violence and activists were brandishing swords and khukhari’s to terrorise students. Mr Tikender
Panwar, general secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, blamed the ABVP for the clash and maintained that the university administration was hand-in-glove with the Parishad. He alleged the activists of Parishad ransacked the rooms of the students owing loyal to the federation and burnt their belongings, certificates and other documents. Both groups agreed to hold talks with the Vice-Chancellor in the afternoon. He first met the representative of the SFI and parishad separately and later held talks with all the three students bodies, including the National Students Union of India, which was not involved in the clash, to work out a compromise. The Vice-Chancellor agreed to set up a committee headed by Prof Suresh Kapoor, dean of studies, to conduct an inquiry into the incident. The committee will also have a nominee of the SCA and one representative each from the three students organisation. He also assured that steps would be taken to regulate the stay of guests in hostels, besides banning consumption of liquor. Dr Sharma also met district officials, and decided to deploy more police on the campus as a precautionary measures. The police has registered two cases on the complaints of the ABVP and the SFI in connection with last night is incident today. No arrests have been made so far. |
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Industrial fumes cloud
Parwanoo Parwanoo, November 2 Though the town has carved a niche for itself in the country’s industrial map, poisonous smoke emitted by some of the factories is seriously affecting the health of its residents. Those who live in Sector 5 complain that factories in this sector start emitting a dense cloud of smoke in the morning which continues throughout the day without any respite. It even becomes difficult to sleep comfortably at night. The Nagar Panchayat also dumps the waste of the town in this sector and sets it on fire which also keeps emitting smoke for days together. Sector 1 suffers from poisonous fumes emitted by a chemical factory and smoke by a steel plant. The air in Sector 1-A is always full of the smell of burning rubber and the fumes that rise from it, particularly in the evening when factory-owners burn their waste. National Highway 22 which passes through this town is also full of smoke, especially in the morning when the roadside dhabas light their coal ovens. Heavy trucks on the road also emit clouds of smoke. Doctors of this town say that diseases of the lungs, bronchitis and allergies, are on the increase. Small children are easily affected. Several industrial units have not installed pollution control equipment and they are flouting the bylaws of the Pollution Control Board. |
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Set up Himalayan council: sammelan Hamirpur, November 2 Another resolution passed at the seminar demanded the setting up of a Himalayan channel of Prasar Bharti to promote the rich cultural heritage of the people of the Himalayan ranges. The resolution said once the channel was set up, it would help in promoting cultural, religious and social life of the local residents. The seminar organised by Baba Balak Nath Memorial College, Deotsidh, is being held at Chakmoh village. The sammelan further demanded that year 2002 be declared year for safe and peaceful Himalayas as the base for permanent peace in Asia. The sammelan through a fourth resolution demanded due status to Bhoti language in the eighth schedule of the Constitution. |
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Plea to implement decision on lecturers Dharamsala, November 2 In a statement issued here today, the association regretted that despite the decision having been taken by the state Cabinet last year in August, the authorities concerned had failed to implement it. “By giving seniority benefit to the ex-servicemen in line with the date of their joining defence services the government has virtually obliterated promotional avenues to other school lecturers,” they said. The press secretary of the association said an ex-serviceman appointed school lecturer without facing any commission or board was being promoted principal, whereas other lecturers even after 15 years of their service saw no chance of promotion as principal in the near future. |
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Seminar
on human rights today Shimla, November 2 According to Mr V.P. Gupta, secretary of the commission, the seminar will discuss the rights-based issues concerning various types of human rights. He said in the recent past, much stress had been laid on the human rights of all human beings and especially the weaker sections of the society. It was timely that such awareness was created throughout the state so that the people in general and weaker sections in particular were made aware of their human rights. Important issues concerning children, like ignoring child, physical punishment, sexual abuse, child labour, slavery, foeticide and infanticide; issues concerning women like rape, dowry death, molestation, cruelty domestic violence, sati, sexual harassment at work place, incest and gender discrimination and issues concerning SC/ST such as
untouchability, abolishing of caste system and general discrimination will form part of the presentation. |
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Hill road in bad shape Nalagarh In the rainy season, landslides are common and traffic on this road remains blocked for hours. Besides, the Gambher bridge is too narrow for two-way traffic and vehicles on one side have to wait till traffic from the opposite side is cleared. The number of vehicles using this road has increased since a big cement plant was set up at Darlaghat (Arki). As a result, there is a considerable traffic on this road at all hours of the day. But this bridge has not been repaired for a long time. Transporters as well as other road users have been demanding that this bridge should be widened. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, had announced during his visit to Maloun area that this bridge would be renovated soon, but the plan does not seem to have seen the light of the day. |
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Power tariff: Cong dharna on Nov 10 Shimla, November 2 Talking to mediapersons here today, the PCC spokesman, Mr Kuldeep Singh Rathore, alleged that the power tariff had been increased third time in the BJP-HVC combine rule. The common people were the main sufferer due to the unbearable hike and winter
surcharge from November to March, he added. |
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