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Saturday,
November 10, 2001,
Chandigarh, India  
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Forest
Dept split, officer adjusted Cong
appointments on forged letterhead? Ministers
flay ex-CM’s remarks Cong has
‘political myopia’: Bitta Case of
missing foreigner solved |
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‘No
grant for Shimla in BJP’s rule’ Shimla, November 9 The Mayor of the local Municipal Corporation, Mrs Jenny Prem and a former Mayor, Mr Adarsh Kumar, have said the corporation has not received any grant for the development of the town eversince the BJP government came to power. Tibetan
exhibition inaugurated Pollution
control panel reconstituted Rohtang
Pass thrown open 
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Forest Dept split, officer adjusted Shimla, November 9 The Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr
P. K. Dhumal, decided to separate Wildlife from the Forest Department and created a separate post of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) to head the new wing. An official spokesman said it was in consonance with the directions of the Centre to give priority for Wildlife preservation. The Cabinet also approved a proposal of the Home Department to reduce the cadre strength of the IPS in the state from 72 to 63 in the next five years. The Cabinet approved that “B” and “C” grade fruits of
kinnow, malta and sangtra and all grades of galgal would be procured at the rate of Rs 4.35, Rs 3.75 and Rs 2.60 per kg with effect from November 20 to February 15, 2002 in 49 fruit collection centres to be opened. The scheme of the Health Department to appoint a panchayat swasthaya sahayak in each panchayat was also approved. They will be appointed by the panchayat and thereby, about 600 vacant posts filled. The Cabinet also gave approval to the proposal of the Health Department to review the staff norms for deployment of staff in primary and community health centres. The Cabinet accorded approval for the selection of 600 pharmacists in the Ayurveda Department for imparting training for a period of two years. The Cabinet approved the exclusion of 59 villages and the erstwhile nagar panchayat,
Dhalli, from the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation Shimla and to constitute three nagar panchayats namely,
Dhalli, New Shimla (Kasumpti) and Totu. The Cabinet approved giving incentive to the industrial units in central sales tax for supply of goods to BSNL, MTNL and VSNL. The Cabinet also approved rationalisation of certain goods tax on “katha” and “kutch” and to levy tax on “kutch” at the rate of Rs 1.70 per 10 kg while that on “katha” will remain unchanged at Rs 30 per 10 kg. The Cabinet decided to give letter of intent for the manufacture of a fruit-based wine industry at Pragti Nagar
(Kotkhai) in favour of Himachal Indage Ltd. Nigam Vihar, Shimla. The Cabinet also gave approval to give no-default guarantee in favour of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation for raising a term loan of Rs 20 crore from the state Cooperative Bank for the replacement of 225 old buses. To open more promotional avenues in the police department, the Cabinet gave approval for discontinuance of direct recruitment in the rank of assistant sub-inspector. To promote private sector participation and contribution in the development of pisiculture in the state, it decided to lease two departmental fish farms at Nalagarh and Gagret to private entrepreneurs. It also gave approval for converting Trout Fish Farm in the state to a registered society, namely the Himachal Pradesh
Aquaculture Fishing and Marketing Society. The Cabinet gave approval for re-designating the existing posts of district education officer and district primary education officer to that of deputy director. As a mark of respect to renowned artist Shobha Singh, whose birth centenary celebrations are being organised this year, it decided to rename the road from Tea Factory,
Palampur, to Andretta as Shobha Singh Marg and Government High School,
Andretta, as Sardar Shobha Singh Government High School. The Cabinet gave approval for the creation of a post of Registrar, Nuclear Medicine, in the Department of Radiotherapy in
IGMC, Shimla. The Cabinet placed on record, the good performance of Deepak Thakur in the World Cup Junior Hockey team from the country, which won for the first time. |
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Cong appointments on forged letterhead? Dharamsala, November 9 Mr Goma has denied having made any such appointment, adding that someone has used a signed letterhead of his to issue the letter. It was after the matter was brought to the notice of the high command in Delhi, that the HPCC chief, Ms Vidya Stokes, sought an explanation from Mr Goma over the appointment of Mr Arun Bisht, which has become the bone of contention between the two rival factions. In his reply to the HPCC chief, Mr Goma stated that the issue of the appointment of Mr Bisht was a mischief to malign him as he had till date not issued any such letter. Further clarifying his position, Mr Goma said the letter was neither written by him nor did it have any date or reference number or the name of constituency. However, Mr Goma, accepted the fact some old signed letterhead of his, had been used for issuing the appointment letter to Mr Bisht. “Interestingly, while Mr Goma, gave this reply to Ms Stokes last month, he does not even consider it fit to clarify the position now when Mr Bisht continues issuing press statements in his capacity as the DCC vice-president, lambasting the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and the Rajya Sabha member, Ms Chandresh Kumari, said the Dharamsala Block Congress Committee, (BCC) president, Mr Digvijay Puri. Mr Puri said the name of Mr Bisht did not even figure in the list of party’s primary members. “It hurts the party workers when a person, who has contested the Assembly election against the Congress candidate and is not even a primary member of the party, makes irresponsible and derogatory statements against senior party workers, while the PCC and the PCC desists from clarifying the position,” said another Dharamsala BCC office-bearer. Mr Virbhadra Singh and Chandresh Kumari had expressed displeasure over the appointment of Mr Bisht as district vice-president of the Congress. The DCC and the HPCC have not clarified whether Mr Bisht is a office-bearer or not. There is resentment among party workers here, who feel that it is obligatory on the part of the DCC chief, who is the appointing authority, to clarify claims made by Mr Bisht. The BCC today constituted a disciplinary committee under the chairmanship of Mr Anurag Khanna to take up the issue of Mr Bisht’s appointment and send the report to the high command. |
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Ministers
flay ex-CM’s remarks Shimla, November 9 The ministers in a statement here yesterday criticised Mr Virbhadra Singh for making such statements and creating uncertainty amongst the investors who were showing keen interest to invest in hydel power projects in the state. They described his attitude as “anti-development and anti-people”. The ministers said Mr Virbhadra Singh was in the habit of doing such thing and in 1993, when he became the Chief Minister, the agreement for 2051 MW Parvati hydel project, which was signed by the then BJP government in 1992, suffered due to his indifferent attitude. As a result of which the project got delayed by nine years which otherwise would have reached the stage of completion today. They said due to the efforts of the present government the work on projects having generation capacity of over 7,100 mw had been started. Efforts were being made to generate 10,000 mw additional power in next eight to 10 years, which would fetch income of over Rs 1,800 crore annually to the state exchequer, they added. |
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Cong has ‘political myopia’: Bitta Solan, November 9 Mr Bitta, who addressed a press conference here yesterday, demanded that the central leadership of the Congress should spell the measures it thought were needed to tackle the menace of terrorism. He said the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front felt that even the much-maligned POTO was far short of the requirements of the present situation created by foreign mercenaries. He demanded that the Union Government should convene an all-party meeting to enunciate a consensus-based response to terrorism. He said all politicians should rise above considerations of votebank and focus on safeguarding national interests. “It should be emphasised that nobody, not even the political leaders (and journalists), were above national security,” he said. Mr Bitta said his front would stage nationwide rallies on November 26 to voice its protest against the Union Government’s “weak” response to cross-border terrorism. The need of the hour was to annihilate terrorist camps located in neighbouring countries and adopt the policy of “bullet for bullet”. Mr Bitta also voiced his concern at “political terrorism”. He said the treatment meted out to Mr Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu and Mr Virbhadra Singh in Himachal Pradesh could only be termed as “blots on democracy”. |
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Case of missing foreigner solved Kulu, November 9 Mr N. Venu Gopal, Superintendent of Police, told this correspondent that the police had suspected foul play in the disappearance of the woman when Ses Ram, a resident of Old Manali, informed the police on September 20 that the woman who had been staying in his house on rent since May 25 left for Rajasthan in July, but did not return. Ses Ram told the police that her belongings were lying with him which were later deposited in the Manali police station. It was learnt that a hermit, who knew the woman had informed her parents in Italy about her disappearance. The parents reached here and lodged a complaint with the police on November 7. The SP said a case under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC had been registered. He said the investigations had led the police to arrest Ses Ram, who was being interrogated. He said more arrests would be made in the case. |
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‘No grant
for Shimla in BJP’s rule’ Shimla, November 9 In a joint statement issued here today, Mrs Prem and Mr Kumar accused the Horticulture Minister, Mr Narendera Bragta, of trying to mislead the people by giving “concocted” figures regarding the grants provided by the BJP government for the development of the town. They alleged that Mr Bragta had failed to get any new project for the town and was manipulating the data. They said on the contrary a grant of Rs 26.70 crore was received during the Congress regime and not Rs 21 crore as claimed by Mr Bragta. The development works for which Mr Bragta was trying to take credit were actually started during the Congress regime. These include Rs 55 crore OPEC sewerage project, Rs 40 crore sanctioned by the 10th Finance Commission for replacement of the water distribution line and Rs 30 lakh for shopping complex at Nabha. They said Rs 29.57 crore released to the Corporation during the BJP regime includes Rs 14.75 crore grant in lieu of the octroi which was the constitutional liability of the state. An amount of Rs 75 lakh was sanctioned for modern slaughter house during the Congress regime in 1995-96 and Rs 25.21 lakh for the repair of the Rivoli tunnel in 1997. |
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Tibetan
exhibition inaugurated Kangra, November 9 Dr C.L. Gupta as chief guest was speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day Tibetan exhibition here in the local municipal stadium today. He expressed concern over the Chinese efforts to destroy the religious and cultural heritage of the Tibetans. He said the Tibetan and the Indian cultures had come closer during the past few years and the cultural exchanges between the two were important. He criticised some Indian leaders for misleading the masses on the issue of atrocities on Tibetans. He said such exhibitions were a step towards creating awareness among the people regarding Tibetan religion, art and culture. Mr Karma Chophel, Chairman, Tibet and Parliament of government-in-exile stressed for mutual understanding between Indians and Tibetans and said Indians must come forward with political support for the Tibetan cause. Mr Jigmey Tsultrim, Under Secretary, Tibetan Department of Information, said the Chinese Government Gormo Lhasa railway track under construction was a threat for Indian security. He said the Dalai Lama had no intentions of converting Hindus to Buddhism and allegations in this context were baseless. |
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Pollution
control panel reconstituted Shimla, November 9 The Secretary (S&T), Secretary (Urban Development), Secretary (Industries), Secretary
(MPP & Power) and Secretary (Health) will be its official members. The Managing-Director,
H.P. Road Transport Corporation, and the Managing Director, H.P.
Tourism Development Corporation, will be representatives of state-owned corporations. |
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Rohtang Pass
thrown open Shimla, November 9 The 25 tourists, including two foreigners, who were held up in Keylong for the past five days, are on way to Manali by road. According to reports reaching here, eight jawans of the ITBP and two other persons are still stranded beyond Sirchu. |
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Seminar
held Shimla, November 9 |
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