H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

RS seat: race on to claim BJP ticket
Shimla, December 22
Mr Mahinder Pandey, a former general secretary of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), is emerging as one of the frontrunners for the BJP ticket for the Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh which is falling vacant in March.

Land-grab case: MLA’s ‘dead’ servant alive
Shimla, December 22
The alleged case land-grab registered by the Vigilance Department against Congress MLA, Mrs Asha Kumari, her husband, Mr Brijender Singh and four others took bizarre turn today when one of their “dead” employee, Arjun Singh, appeared before mediapersons here and claimed that he had not signed any documents to gift his land to them.

Landslide kills four labourers
Parwanoo, December 22
Four labourers, including three members of a family, were killed in a landslide near here today. The landslide occurred on the Parwanoo-Khadin link road where a culvert was being constructed. At least 10 labourers were working there at the time of the landslide that buried four labourers.

Workers clear debris at the site of a landslide near Parwanoo that claimed four lives, including that of a woman, on Saturday. — Photo Madan Mehra

Dhumal inaugurates police station
Kasauli, December 22
The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, inaugurated a model police station at Dharampur, 13 km from here, today.

Docs decry arrest of Health Directors
Mandi, December 22
The Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association has flayed the arrest of three successive directors of Health Services in the state and described it as a “deep-rooted conspiracy” against the doctors by the vested interests who had been making efforts to grab the coveted post.

Three young scientists feted
Hamirpur, December 22
Three young scientists were honoured on the last day of the four-days International Congress of the ISTAM that ended here today. Dr. R.L. Sharma, principal of the Hamirpur Engineering College, was the chief guest in the concluding day function. They were given appreciation certificates and cash prizes of Rs 500 each.

Suicide case converted into murder
Nurpur, December 22
The local police which has registered a case under Sections 498-A and 306 of the IPC against the in-laws of Champa Devi of Naglar village whose body was found hanging under suspicious circumstances, yesterday converted the suicide case into a murder case.

YC submits memorandum to Governor
Shimla, December 22
The Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress today submitted a memorandum to the Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan, demanding dismissal of the BJP-HVC combine government in the state for its alleged failure on all fronts and also the resignation of the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, in view of the coffin scam.

RS seat: race on to claim BJP ticket
Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 22
Mr Mahinder Pandey, a former general secretary of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), is emerging as one of the frontrunners for the BJP ticket for the Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh which is falling vacant in March.

Mr Pandey, who is currently associated with the Swadeshi Vichar Manch, is learnt to have received the blessings of certain Central leaders of the BJP, although nothing is certain yet because several others are in the race for the ticket.

Mr Pandey has been working for the party in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir in particular. He entered the race for the Rajya Sabha ticket recently and is reportedly being supported also by Mr Suresh Chandel, a BJP MP.

Various other BJP activists, including Mr Radha Raman Shastri, a former Speaker and Education Minister, and Mr Mohinder Natha Sofat, a former minister, are among the serious contenders for the ticket for the seat which will be vacated by Ms Chandresh Kumari of the Congress.

Mr Sofat is reportedly being backed by the Union Minister for Consumers Affairs, Mr Shanta Kumar. Mr Shastri is learnt to have discussed his claim for the ticket with various senior leaders of the BJP at the Central level.

Many BJP activists claimed that someone belonging to the general category from the Shimla parliamentary constituency, consisting of the districts of Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur, should be backed for the Rajya Sabha beat because the Lok Sabha seat of the area was being represented by the alliance partner of the HVC. Moreover, the Shimla parliamentary seat is a reserved one.

The BJP had left the Shimla Lok Sabha seat for the HVC and also backed Mr Anil Sharma, who is son of the HVC chief, for a Rajya Sabha seat.

The election committee of the ruling BJP is expected to meet here sometime after the winter session of the Assembly and prepare a panel of the aspirants for being sent to the Centre.

Land-grab case: MLA’s ‘dead’ servant alive
Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 22
The alleged case land-grab registered by the Vigilance Department against Congress MLA, Mrs Asha Kumari, her husband, Mr Brijender Singh and four others took bizarre turn today when one of their “dead” employee, Arjun Singh, appeared before mediapersons here and claimed that he had not signed any documents to gift his land to them.

The Vigilance Department registered the case against the MLA and her husband on last Saturday allegedly for grabbing 67.3 bighas of land at Jandari Ghat near Dalhousie on the basis of forged documents.

Arjun Singh told mediapersons that he worked with Mr Brijender Singh for nearly 10 years from 1971 and recently came to know that about 10.3 bighas of land which was given to him near Dalhousie had been transferred in the name of Brijender Singh allegedly by producing forged documents.

He claimed that Mr Brijender Singh who belonged to erstwhile royal family of Chamba, told him in 1970s that his land was coming under the ceiling law and instead of surrendering it to the government he would give the land to him. He said that he did not take the matter seriously and left Chamba in 1980 and had no knowledge of what transpired thereafter.

Arjun Singh, who reached at the venue of the press conference from Alwar in Rajasthan where he has settled now, said that recently some officials of the Vigilance Department came to him and inquired whether “I” had signed any will or any other document about land transfer. So he had now come here to file a complaint.

He said that he was shocked to know that he was declared dead and a “forged death certificate had been obtained and the fake will prepared” for grabbing the land.

Landslide kills four labourers
Our Correspondent

Parwanoo, December 22
Four labourers, including three members of a family, were killed in a landslide near here today.

The landslide occurred on the Parwanoo-Khadin link road where a culvert was being constructed. At least 10 labourers were working there at the time of the landslide that buried four labourers.

The victims have been identified as Mohan Lal, 50, his wife, Shanti Devi, 40, son Suraj Kumar, 21, and Som Nath, 35. The lone survivor of the family of Mohan Lal was 16-year-old Jagwati who was also working at the construction site and escaped unhurt. These labourers belonged to Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh.

The local Public Works Department had given the contract for the construction of the culvert to a local contractor, Dharminder. A case under Sections 336 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered against him and an inquiry has been initiated. A postmortem was conducted and the bodies of the victims were handed over to the local Nagar Parishad.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Solan, Mr Sanjay Murti, the Superintendent of Police, Mr Z.H. Zaidi, and the other senior officials visited the spot. The district administration has announced a compensation of Rs 5,000 for the next of the kin of each of the victims.

CM promises  33 pc quota  to women
Our Correspondent

Kasauli, December 22
The BJP government is committed to provide 33 per cent reservation to women as promised in their party manifesto. This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, while addressing the participants at the BJP Mahila Morcha three-day state-level camp.

He urged the workers of the party to impart knowledge about various government schemes to the women. There is a need to apprise women about various employment avenues available to them, He added. He said Mahila Morcha could play a crucial role in this regard.

The CM said a matri shakti insurance scheme had been introduced which provided an insurance of Rs 25,000 to the women living below the poverty line. While giving details about the government’s development works, he stated that an Institute of Information Technology was coming up at Vaahnaghat and it would introduce graduate and postgraduate classes from July next year.

Dhumal inaugurates police station
Our Correspondent

Kasauli, December 22
The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, inaugurated a model police station at Dharampur, 13 km from here, today.

The Chief Minister said three women constables would be posted in each police station in the state to facilitate the aggrieved women in seeking police’s help.

He said the state government was constructing 906 housing quarters for the police department in the state, including 83 in Solan district. Out of this, 887 quarters had already been constructed.

He said in order to provide more avenues for promotion in the Police Department 2300 posts of honorary constables had been created.

He said five police stations had been provided with new buildings and Rs 23.10 crore had been spend on their construction.

He released a booklet titled “Aap Aur Hum” which educates the common man about the Police Department. It provides information about how to register a FIR, how to report crimes, how to protect one’s property, how to recognise a policeman and other necessary details.

Earlier, the Director-General of Police, Mr A.K. Puri, while speaking on the occasion stated that various schemes, including community policing and women cell, had been introduced by the police to help the common man. In order to provide help to the tourists mobile vans as well as police assistance booths had been opened on the highways in the state.

He said policemen would attend refresher courses which would teach them to become more people friendly.

Docs decry arrest of Health Directors
Our Correspondent

Mandi, December 22
The Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association has flayed the arrest of three successive directors of Health Services in the state and described it as a “deep-rooted conspiracy” against the doctors by the vested interests who had been making efforts to grab the coveted post.

In a lengthy press note handed to mediapersons this evening, the state general secretary of the association, Dr Jiwanand Chauhan, alleged that the bureaucrats were letting them down in order to usurp the key posts in the Health Department. The bureaucrats have already grabbed the newly created post of the Additional Director of Health Services, he alleged.

Dr Chauhan said the association had kept mum over the arrest of two directors, but the arrest of the third Director, Dr K.S. Rana, in a row had forced them to condemn it as a “mala fide action” taken at the instance of bureaucracy.

He said the association had demanded that the next senior most person from the Health cadre should be immediately promoted as Director to avoid confrontation, adding that otherwise the association would be forced to launch a struggle. 

Three young scientists feted
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, December 22
Three young scientists were honoured on the last day of the four-days International Congress of the ISTAM that ended here today. Dr. R.L. Sharma, principal of the Hamirpur Engineering College, was the chief guest in the concluding day function. They were given appreciation certificates and cash prizes of Rs 500 each.

During four days, as 135 papers were presented and four memorial and six invited lecturers were also delivered. Dr.J.K. Jain of the MACT, Bhopal and Dr. R.K. Sehgal of the Hamirpur Engineering college were elected as the President and Vice-President respectively of the ISTAM on the occasion. 

Suicide case converted into murder
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, December 22
The local police which has registered a case under Sections 498-A and 306 of the IPC against the in-laws of Champa Devi of Naglar village whose body was found hanging under suspicious circumstances, yesterday converted the suicide case into a murder case.

According to Mr Sanjiv Ghandhi, the DSP, the post-mortem report examination and circumstances led the police to suspect it to be a murder case. Ranbir Singh and Subhash Devi, husband and mother in law, respectively, of the deceased were arrested yesterday in this connection. They were remanded in police custody till December 26.

YC submits memorandum to Governor
Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 22
The Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress today submitted a memorandum to the Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan, demanding dismissal of the BJP-HVC combine government in the state for its alleged failure on all fronts and also the resignation of the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, in view of the coffin scam.

The Youth Congress earlier held a meeting under the chairmanship of the state party chief, Mr Sukhwinder Singh. Besides members of the party executive, district chiefs were also present at the meeting. The manifesto demanded that all ministers and MLAs of the BJP should declare their assets as was promised by the party in its manifesto.

It alleged that corruption and nepotism were rampant and those close to the BJP were getting employment in government services.