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Sunday,
November 18, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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10-year entertainment tax holiday in HP Sahib Singh flays Cong stand on POTO
PWD refused possession of hostel building Insurance scheme for HP women |
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NSUI's state executive reconstituted Programme on entrepreneurship concludes Lala Lajpat Rai remembered Ex-MLA seeks arms licences for farmers Loans worth 2.5 cr for farmers
2 get remand in double murder case A clarification
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10-year entertainment tax holiday in HP New Delhi, November 17 Mr Dhumal, who was here to attend Interstate Council meeting and convey his government’s views on POTO at a meeting convened by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, said that the efforts were also onto induce the farmers towards crop diversification. He said that while apple-growers were being given better root-stock to improve variety of the crop, experiments were also being done to introduce grapes and other fruits in apple-growing areas. Mr Dhumal said that to boost tourism in the state, the government had decided to do away with the Entertainment Tax for the next 10 years. “There would be
entertainment tax holiday for 10 years,” he said. The Chief Minister said that the state government would also introduce Panchkarma in certain selected locales in the state for convenience of tourists who now go to southern states for the purpose. On the achievements of his government, he said that new hydro-electric projects had been started in the past three-and-a-half years which would generate 7000 MW of additional power. Mr Dhumal said that he had been assured of greater help by the Centre in harnessing the state’s hydro-electric potential of 20,000 MW and the state was on its way to generate 10,000 MW power by 2008. Informing that an investment of one lakh crore rupees was needed to harness the state’s hydro-electric potential, he said that Union Power Minister Suresh Prabhu had assured him of liberal central help to make the Himachal ‘power state’ of India. The Chief Minister said that his government was laying special emphasis to education, roads and health and efforts were being made to further improve social indicators in the state. Asserting that the Vikas Yatras, carried by his government in all 68 constituencies, had evoked good response, Mr Dhumal said that over 2,000 km of new roads had been made in the state in the past three years. He said that due attention was being paid to promote bio-technology and IT in the state. Mr Dhumal was the chief guest at the Himachal Day function today in the India International Trade Fair being held here at Pragati
Maidan. |
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Sahib Singh flays Cong stand on POTO Shimla, November 17 Mr Verma, who addressed BJP workers and also spoke to mediapersons here today, said there was a dire need for such a provision after the lapse of TADA to sternly deal with terrorists and those aiding and abetting terrorism. He slammed the Congress for adopting double standards on this issue and said the party which encouraged terrorism through its policy of appeasement to serve its vested interests was opposing POTO to ensure that it persisted. He said it was ridiculous that the Congress was supporting laws which were more stringent than POTO in Congress-ruled states like Maharashtra and Karnataka but opposing POTO to divide the people and weaken the fight against terrorism. Mr Verma said POTO in no way curbed the freedom of the Press and urged the media to create a mass opinion in favour of POTO which could prove an effective instrument to fight and wipe out terrorism. He alleged that TADA was misused only by the Congress government and was scrapped to appease a particular community, adding that the then Gujarat Chief Minister Chiman Bhai Mehta had detained more than 19,000 persons. He refuted the charge that POTO was an election stunt of the BJP and said the Congress and some other parties were worried that the BJP would get massive support of the people if it succeeded in containing terrorism and were opposing POTO to appease the minorities. |
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PWD refused possession of hostel building Palampur, November 17 Though the contractor had opened the building when the Union Health Minister, Mr C.P. Thakur, inaugurated it last week, he locked it soon after the inauguration. Inquiries made by this reporter showed that the state Ayurveda Department had deposited Rs 60 lakh with the state PWD for the construction of a girls hostel at Paprola in 1998-99. The construction of the building was taken up by the PWD and the contractor reportedly completed it in a record period about a year ago but the has allegedly not been paid as per the agreement so far. Pending his dues, the contractor had locked the entire complex and told the department that unless his entire payment was made he would not hand over the building. On the other hand a spokesman for the Ayurveda Department said the secretary, Ayurveda Department, had already released Rs 60 lakh to the PWD against the total value of Rs 55 lakh of the building. He said it was strange that payments were not made to the contractor by the PWD, the executing agency. He said the dispute between the contractor and the PWD was causing great inconvience to the students as the new session was about to begin. He said the matter had been referred to the government for further investigation. When contacted, Mr Pyare Lal Sharma, the contractor, admitted that he had locked the building. He told The Tribune that he had completed the entire complex in a record period as per the agreement signed with the state PWD but his payments were deliberately delayed and even now more than Rs 5 lakh had been withheld by the department without assigning any specific reason. The department had violated the payment clause of the tender, he said. He regretted that he had met all senior officers of the department time and again in this regard in the past six months but all in vain. Mr Sharma said the department, just to please the local ruling party leaders, was harassing him. |
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Insurance scheme for HP women Dalhousie, November 17 Ms Chadha said it was for the first time that the Himachal Government had put into operation an insurance scheme for women living below the poverty line (BPL) and those belonging to IRDP families. She said the premium of this scheme would be borne by the state government. The women have been insured for Rs 25,000 each. Ms Chadha said the Himachal Government had constituted a commission for the welfare of women, besides providing free education to girls. She said the government had increased the widow pension from Rs 100 to Rs 150 per month. She said the government had also decided to appoint at least three women constables in each police station of the state. She said the “Maharishi Balmiki Chhatar Chhatarvriti Yojana” had been commenced for girls of very poor families to enable them to continue education above matric. Ms Chadha said a stipend of Rs 9,000 would be given to the girls under the scheme. |
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NSUI's state executive reconstituted Shimla, November 17 The NSUI president, Mr Kewal Singh Pathania, said today that the state executive committee meeting would be held later this month. He said the NSUI would organise programmes on AIDS awareness, environmental protection and cleanliness drive, besides sports competitions, in December. The following have been appointed office-bearers of the NSUI: vice-presidents Mahinder Stan, Sanjay Guleria, Randhir Ranta, Tipu Khan, Puran Chand, Dharminder Thakur and D.D.Kashyap; general secretaries: Anoop Rattan, Sharmila Patiyal, Anita Khachi, Bhavani Singh, Vikas Shukla, Dev Khimta, Pushpinder Chauhan, Digvijay Singh Patiyal, Rajeev Kimta and Rakesh Garg; secretaries: Sunil Sharma, Omkar Kapila, Vijay Kanav, Bhupesh Jharta, Anjna Sharma, Aman Sood, Vijay Thakur, Rajesh Sharma, Vinod Kumar, Neeraj Thakur, Pankaj Dhiman, Chaggar Singh, Ojasvi Rana, Lal Singh, Arvind Jasta and Ajay Verma; and chairman media affairs spokesman: Amit Pal Singh. |
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Programme on entrepreneurship concludes Dalhousie, November 17 According to Mr K.L. Mastana, Tourism Officer, Chamba, 59 applicants had reported for the interview of which 23 were selected for the programme. These candidates were imparted training and
know how about the tourism potential and were also apprised of the scope and role of tourist guides. On the concluding day of the training, Mr P.S. Bharadwaj, SDM, gave away certificates and stipends to the trainees. |
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Lala Lajpat Rai remembered Shimla, November 17 The Minister for Horticulture, Mr Narendera Bragta, garlanded the statue on behalf of the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, who was on a tour to Delhi. Mr Lalji Singh, secretary to the Governor, paid tributes on behalf of the Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan. The PCC chief, Ms Vidya Stokes, and the Mayor of the local Municipal Corporation, Ms Jenny Prem, and several councillors also garlanded the statue. The statue, situated at the Scandal Point was brought here from Lahore after the partition of the country and was re-elected on August 15, 1948, by Dr Gopi Chand Bhargava, the then Premier of the erstwhile East Punjab. |
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Ex-MLA seeks arms licences for farmers Kangra, November 17 While addressing mediapersons here today, he said flocks of monkeys had damaged crops in the area to a great extent. He had raised the issue at the Grievance Committee meeting at Dharamsala. The Cabinet Minister, who was presiding over the meeting, had assured the farmers that they would be given arms licences for the protection of their crops. But nothing had been done in this connection so far, he added. Mr Rana demanded that the licences should be issued to the farmers on the SDM level and they be compensated for the damage through the crop insurance scheme. The state government should set up a large cowshed one each in Assembly segments, to take care of the stray animals, he added. |
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Loans worth 2.5 cr for farmers Hamirpur, November 17 An official spokesman said here the loans were sanctioned for purchasing small tractors, light vehicles, setting up of cottage industries and starting minor irrigation schemes. The Chairman of the bank informed the meeting that the state government had decided to abolish the stamp duty on loans to the farmers. He said the bank had so for distributed loans worth Rs 22 crore to the farmers and orchardists of the state during the current fiscal year against the annual target of Rs 50 crore. The Board of Directors of the bank appealed to the loanees to repay their loans in time to avoid penal action. The meeting also authorised the bank officers and employees to take timely steps to recover old loans. |
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2 get remand in double murder case Shimla, November 17 The accused, who were arrested near Nahan after committing murder in the town, were produced before the CJM at his residence. Both accused were allegedly involved in the murders of 32-year-old owner of Oaksland Hotel, Sandeep Sood, and his mother in the Lakkar Bazar area here. According to the prosecution, the police arrested the accused, Shyamal Rao, Manager of the hotel, and cook, Deep Ram, from Do Sadaka in Simour district. They had picked up an altercation with Sandeep leading to his murder. After that they went to his mother’s bedroom and hacked her to death.
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A clarification Shimla, November 17 People of the tribal district were fully aware of this fact and there was no cause of resentment on this account as reported in a section of the Press attributed to former Chief Secretary and AICC member A.N. Vidyarthi. The spokesman said such a misleading statement was unwarranted. The tribal people were used to engaging taxis after the official closure of the Rohtang Pass at their own risk. However, 16 buses had been kept in the valley for taking passengers up to a safer point, the spokesman added. |
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Former HP Chief Secy dead Shimla, November 17 The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has expressed grief over his sudden demise. The Chief Minister lauded the services rendered by Mr Mukherjee in various positions in the state, especially as Commissioner for tribal development. |
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